GENERAL COMMENTS:
The live cattle complex struggled the most throughout the day as technical pressure grew more and more burdensome throughout the day, but the feeder cattle market also closed lower. Bids of $195 live and $305 dressed were offered throughout the day, but no cattle sold. March corn is down 6 1/4 cents per bushel and January soybean meal is down $7.70. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 1,123.03 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The live cattle complex closed lower as the market faced some harsh technical realities throughout the day. It's likely some profit-taking is happening from money-managed funds, which escalated today's ascent. But the spot February contract closed just above the market's 40-day moving average and again fell below the market's resistance at $190. December live cattle closed $0.95 lower at $191.30, February live cattle closed $1.42 lower at $188.32 and April live cattle closed $1.10 lower at $190.47. Throughout the day bids of $195 live and $305 dressed were offered in Nebraska, but no cattle traded. Asking prices are firm in the South at $193 to $195 but are still not yet known for dressed cattle. Packer interest will likely improve tomorrow.
Wednesday's slaughter is estimated at 123,000 head -- 2,000 head less than a week ago and 1,000 head less than a year ago.
Boxed beef prices closed lower: choice down $0.79 ($314.84) and select down $2.95 ($285.55) with a movement of 120 loads (50.27 loads of choice, 27.27 loads of select, 28.68 loads of trim and 13.75 loads of ground beef).
THURSDAY'S CATTLE CALL: Steady to somewhat higher. This week's trade will likely depend on how desperately packers need cattle. It's highly unlikely that feedlot managers let cattle trade for cheaper prices as they can simply roll this week's showlists over to next week as opposed to selling cattle for cheaper money.
FEEDER CATTLE:
The feeder cattle complex closed lower as the market simply didn't receive the complimentary support it needed in order to justify advancing the contracts throughout the day. From a fundamental standpoint the market's demand is still incredible, but the market continues to come up short of the technical support it desperately needs. January feeders closed $0.47 lower at $257.00, March feeders closed $0.90 lower at $257.37 and April feeders closed $0.97 lower at $258.40. At Winters Livestock Auction in La Junta, Colorado compared to last week feeder steers weighing under 600 pounds sold $4.00 to $9.00 higher, with instances of even sharply higher. Feeder steers over 600 pounds traded $2.00 to $5.00 lower. Feeder cattle supply over 600 pounds was 54%. The CME feeder cattle index 12/17/2024: up $0.46, $263.00.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex closed mixed with the market's nearby contracts able to close slightly higher while the deferred months still rounded out the day lower. Part of the market's ability to close higher came from the support of stronger pork demand as the carcass price closed $1.58 higher -- which was mainly thanks to the ham's $3.81 increase, and the belly's $2.89 gain. February lean hogs closed $0.50 higher at $83.70, April lean hogs closed $0.85 higher at $88.90 and June lean hogs closed $0.80 higher at $100.75.
Hog prices closed higher on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report, up $0.24 with a weighted average price of $78.03 on 2,490 head. Pork cutouts totaled 206.91 loads with 159.63 loads of pork cuts and 47.28 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $1.58, $96.35. Wednesday's slaughter is estimated at 488,000 head -- 1,000 head more than a week ago and 10,000 head more than a year ago. The CE lean hog index 12/16/2024: up $0.14, $83.98.
THURSDAY'S HOG CALL: Steady. Packers haven't been very aggressive in this week's market and given that the week is halfway over, it's unlikely that they're going to begin to start buying aggressively now as next week will be a holiday shortened kill week.
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