GENERAL COMMENTS:
Traders are taking a careful approach to Monday's market as all three of the livestock markets are trading mixed into the noon hour. The biggest thing that traders seemed concerned about for the time being is demand -- what will beef and pork demand be over the summer? July corn is down 1 3/4 cents per bushel and July soybean meal is up $8.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 105.02 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The live cattle complex is trading gingerly into the day's noon hour as traders would like to see followed through fundamental support following last week's late-week technical advancement. Feedlots could be hard-pressed to get cattle traded for more money this week as last week's negotiated cash cattle trade totaled 92,548 head -- the second biggest volume sold thus far in 2024. June live cattle are down $1.10 at $177.47, August live cattle are down $0.80 at $175.97 and October live cattle are down $0.72 at $179.85. New showlists appear to be mixed, higher in Kansas, Nebraska/Colorado, but lower in Texas.
Last week Southern live cattle traded for mostly $182 which is steady with the previous week's weighted average. Northern dressed cattle traded at mostly $294 which is $2.00 higher than the previous week's weighted average. Last week's negotiated cash cattle trade totaled 92,548 head. Of that 74% (68,496 head) were committed to the nearby delivery, while the remaining 26% (24,052 head) were committed to the deferred delivery.
Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $0.40 ($297.54) and select up $2.27 ($290.99) with a movement of 51 loads (30.88 loads of choice, 7.70 loads of select, 7.88 loads of trim and 5.01 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
The feeder cattle complex is trading with a lower tone as the market would like to see the live cattle complex better supported before it advances. May feeders are down $0.97 at $247,82, August feeders are down $0.80 at $259.75 and September feeders are down $0.67 at $260.90. Feeder cattle interest throughout the countryside has been exceptional and with green grass and turnout season quickly approaching, demand should remain strong as there simply aren't as many feeders to sort through this year.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex is trading mixed into Monday's noon hour with only some of the nearby contracts struggling to trade higher. With there still being concern over what summertime demand will amount to in the pork sector, traders are cautiously trading the late summer early fall 2024 contracts. The big uptick in today's midday carcass price comes from a $31.99 jump in the belly which will likely continue to be a volatile cut moving forward. June lean hogs are up $0.17 at $102.65, July lean hogs are down $0.65 at $105.30 and August lean hogs are down $0.55 at $103.40.
The projected lean hog index for 4/26/2024 is down $0.52 at $90.36, and the actual index for 4/25/2024 is down $0.55 at $90.88. Hog prices are unavailable on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report due to confidentiality. However, we can see that 170 head have traded and that Pork cutouts total 221.74 loads with 195.93 loads of pork cuts and 25.81 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $7.09, $104.72.
No comments:
Post a Comment