GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex puttered through Tuesday's early close as traders paid the market little attention throughout the day. A single bid of $190 was offered in Kansas, but no cattle have sold just yet. March corn is up 3/4 cent per bushel and March soybean meal is up $3.00. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 390.08 points.
USDA is not updating its pages today (December 24) or on Christmas Day (December 25). The markets will also be closed on December 25, so regular DTN market commentary will resume on Thursday, December 26. Merry Christmas friends!
LIVE CATTLE:
The live cattle complex closed mostly higher as traders hope that the market's fundamentals will prevail after the Christmas holiday especially in the cash market. December live cattle closed $0.17 lower at $190.80, February live cattle closed $0.17 higher at $187.37 and April live cattle closed $0.02 higher at $189.55. A single bid of $190 was offered throughout the day in Kansas but given that that price is below last week's weighted average, it's unlikely that any cattle get bought at that price. Feedlot managers have their eyes set on higher prices again this week. Asking prices are noted in the South at $192 and remain unestablished still in the North.
THURSDAY'S CATTLE CALL: Steady to somewhat higher. Given that packers didn't get very many cattle bought last week it's likely that they'll have to participate in this week's cash market more than they'd like.
FEEDER CATTLE:
The feeder cattle complex rounded out the day fully lower as trader interest remained nearly nonexistent throughout Christmas Eve. January feeders closed $0.37 lower at $255.85, March feeders closed $0.67 lower at $255.00 and April feeders closed $0.70 lower at $256.07. As I mentioned earlier, it's unlikely that the feeder cattle contracts will do much besides trade sideways until after the New Year holiday when regular feeder cattle sales resume in the countryside and buyers will likely be eager to fill their new orders.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex rounded out the Christmas Eve Day mixed as the markets nearby contracts closed slightly lower while the deferred months maintained their higher position. February lean hogs closed $0.05 lower at $84.37, April lean hogs closed $0.57 lower at $89.17 and June lean hogs closed $0.17 lower at $101.25. The market continues to hope that its fundamentals will improve as consumer demand hasn't been reliable as of late.
THURSDAY'S HOG CALL: Lower. Given that packers already bought 6,000 head in the cash market on Monday it's likely that they'll thinly participate in the market throughout the remainder of the week.
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