GENERAL COMMENTS:
All in all, it was a positive day for the livestock complex as the cattle contracts closed higher and some sales were reported in the Southern Plains where prices were higher as well. Still no business has developed in the North, but packer interest should improve on Thursday. July corn is up 1/4 cent per bushel and July soybean meal is up $2.60. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 91.90 points and NASDAQ is up 61.53 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
With the help of added market support from the thin movement that developed this afternoon in the fed cash cattle market, traders were relieved to get some insight into what this week's fed cash cattle trade was going to amount to. To the market's benefit, thankfully, feedlot managers were again able to push prices higher as packers simply cannot afford to sit any week out and risk being alarmingly short bought, which would send prices jolting higher as feedlot managers aren't afraid to ask for more money in this current market environment. This afternoon, there was a thin movement in the South at $225 to $228, which is $3.00 to $6.00 higher than last week's weighted average. Still no business has developed in the North, but packer interest should improve on Thursday. June live cattle closed $2.42 higher at $218.40, August live cattle closed $2.60 higher at $212.35 and October live cattle closed $2.67 higher at $210.60. Today's bullish push in the futures complex did move the spot August contract to the upper level of its sideways trading range, which means that traders are going to want to see more support on Thursday if they're going to go up against the market's resistance.
Wednesday's slaughter is estimated at 121,000 head -- 2,000 head more than a week ago and 2,000 head less than a year ago.
Boxed beef prices closed mixed: choice down $0.28 ($365.16) and select up $0.20 ($356.72) with a movement of 123 load (87.72 loads of choice, 14.96 loads of select, 10.25 loads of trim and 9.77 loads of ground beef).
THURSDAY'S CATTLE CALL: Higher. Given that the market has seen that packers will pay up for cattle again this week, it's likely that the rest of the cattle that trade later this week will be for more money as well.
FEEDER CATTLE:
With the added support of stronger fed cattle prices, and the continued support of the live cattle contracts higher trend, the feeder cattle contracts weren't skeptical about rounding out the day higher. August feeders closed $2.65 higher at $303.87, September feeders closed $2.72 higher at $303.15 and October feeders closed $2.62 higher at $301.27. The spot August contract is nearing the market's technical resistance at $306, which could cause traders some anxiety later this week if prices continue to trade higher. At Beaver Livestock Auction in Beaver, Oklahoma, compared to last week, feeder steers traded $7.00 to $10.00 higher with instances up to $15.00 higher on the higher quality cattle. Steer calves traded $2.00 to $7.00 stronger. Feeder heifers sold $3.00 to $8.00 higher and heifer calves sold $3.00 to $5.00 higher. Feeder cattle supply over 600 pounds was 90%. The CME feeder cattle index 6/3/2025: up $2.04, $303.52.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex had another successful day where traders were pleased with the market's fundamental support, which helped allow the contracts to round out the day higher. July lean hogs closed $0.45 higher at $105.02, August lean hogs closed $1.05 higher at $107.50 and October lean hogs closed $1.27 higher at $91.12. Pork cutouts weren't able to close much higher, but because of the continued support in the belly, the carcass price did gain $0.51. Hog prices closed higher on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report, up $4.21 with a weighted average price of $103.05 on 3,864 head. Pork cutouts totaled 299.73 loads with 271.16 loads of pork cuts and 28.57 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.51, $106.62. Wednesday's slaughter is estimated at 483,000 head -- 4,000 head more than a week and year ago. The CME lean hog index 6/2/2025: up $0.44, $96.34.
THURSDAY'S HOG CALL: Steady. Packers still likely need to procure some hogs before the week's end, but they won't necessarily have to drive prices higher.
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