GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex is trading mixed at Monday's noon hour as the cattle contracts are leery of trading higher until they see what develops fundamentally this week, but the lean hog contracts are trading higher upon the arrival of better pork demand. Higher corn prices are also deterring the feeder cattle complex from trading higher. March corn is up 5 1/2 cents per bushel and March soybean meal is up $6.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 156.47 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
Following last week's incredible rally, traders are leery of overly supporting the live cattle complex this week until tried-and-true market fundamentals show that they're going to be supportive again this week. February live cattle are down $042 at $198.35, April live cattle are down $0.40 at $199.07 and June live cattle are down $0.70 at $193.45. It's obviously too early in the week for any developments to have surfaced in the cash cattle market, but undoubtedly, feedlot managers are going to price their showlists higher again this week.
Last week Northern dressed cattle traded anywhere from $315 to $330, but mostly at $320, which is $5.00 higher than the previous week's weighted average. And Southern live cattle traded anywhere from $200 to $202, which is $4.00 to $6.00 higher than the previous week's weighted average. Both the live and dressed prices mark yet another new all-time high for both regions.
Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice down $0.52 ($332.32) and select up $2.96 ($317.10) with a movement of 62 loads (41.29 loads of choice, 7.53 loads of select, 5.81 loads of trim and 7.29 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
Between the corn complex trading $0.04 to $0.05 higher Monday morning and upon seeing the fact that the live cattle complex is a little gun shy of trading higher -- it comes as no real surprise that the feeder cattle complex is also trading lower. January feeders are up $0.35 at $272.70, March feeders are down $0.37 at $269.02 and April feeders are down $0.62 at $269.55. But once again Monday's lower move in the futures complex isn't a representation of what's playing out in the countryside as feeder cattle continue to trade strong. Monday's move is traders' technical reaction to where prices are.
LEAN HOGS:
While the cattle complex is tiptoeing around, the lean hog contracts are trading higher as they're pleased with the uptick in demand as of late. February lean hogs are up $0.90 at $83.45, April lean hogs are up $1.27 at $89.95 and June lean hogs are up $0.75 at $103.32. This morning the biggest driving factors for the carcass's ability to be higher is because of the ham's $4.74 gain, and the rib's $4.73 gain. Meanwhile the cash hog market is silent with only 345 head having traded thus far.
The projected lean hog index for 1/10/2025 is up $0.34 at $80.77, and the actual index for 1/9/2025 is down $0.16 at $80.43. Hog prices are lower on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, down $0.36 with a weighted average price of $77.62, ranging from $70.50 to $79.00 on 345 head and a five-day rolling average of $78.68. Pork cutouts total 153.65 loads with 129.25 loads of pork cuts and 24.40 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $1.47, $92.83.
No comments:
Post a Comment