GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex closed mixed, with the cattle contracts continuing their downward trend for the day, but the lean hog contracts stumbled into some technical support. No new cash cattle trade developed throughout the day. December corn is down 3 1/4 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is down $4.90. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 386.51 points and the NASDAQ is down 486.18 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
It was another disappointing day for the live cattle complex as trades simply looked at the market and all but said, "there isn't enough support here to turn the market's direction: let the contracts fade lower," and fade lower is what the market did throughout Thursday's trade. December live cattle closed $1.57 lower at $214.72, February live cattle closed $1.85 lower at $215.40 and April live cattle closed $2.22 lower at $215.57. Bids were offered throughout the day in the North, but no more sales were noted. There's a chance that feedlot managers could hold off on trading any more cattle until after everyone sees Friday's Cattle on Feed report. So far this week, Northern dressed cattle have traded at mostly $345, which is $6.00 lower than last week's weighted average and Southern live cattle have traded at mostly $224, which is $4.00 lower than the previous week's weighted average.
Thursday's slaughter is estimated at 120,000 head, steady with a week ago but 6,000 head less than a year ago.
Boxed beef prices closed higher: choice up $0.05 ($371.28) and select up $0.63 ($354.18) with a movement of 116 loads (79.15 loads of choice, 13.95 loads of select, 4.94 loads of trim and 17.56 loads of ground beef).
FRIDAY'S CATTLE CALL: Steady. Given that cattle have traded in both regions, it's likely that the week's trend is set.
FEEDER CATTLE:
Continuing to follow closely in the live cattle market's wake, the feeder cattle contracts also closed lower. January feeders closed $5.07 lower at $316.37, March feeders closed $4.85 lower at $308.55 and April feeders closed $4.17 lower at $306.55. One of the biggest disappointing factors about the market's current state is that feeder cattle trends in the sale barn are heavily swayed by the futures market's daily performance. Although the industry still sits with record low inventory, just because the darn board is trading lower, so do most sales in the countryside.
At Kist Livestock Auction in Mandan, North Dakota, compared to last week, the market started weak for the first sales of the day but turned stronger by the sale's midpoint and held higher until the tail end. Compared to the week before, feeder steers weighing 450 to 550 pounds traded $5.00 to $15.00 lower, steers weighing 550 to 650 pounds traded $19.00 to $22.00 lower and steers weighing 650 to 700 pounds sold $8.00 lower. Feeder cattle supply over 600 pounds was 29%. The CME feeder cattle index 11/20/2025: up $1.14, $341.16.
LEAN HOGS:
Oddly enough, the lean hog complex was able to maintain its higher position through Thursday's end, even though the market's fundamentals remain weak. Both pork cutout values and cash prices traded lower throughout the day, but traders must be concluding that the market has seen enough of a technical downturn for the time being. December lean hogs closed $0.62 higher at $79.47, February lean hogs closed $0.62 higher at $79.65 and April lean hogs closed $0.65 higher at $83.72. Hog prices closed lower on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report, down $2.74 with a weighted average price of $71.87 on 1,353 head. Pork cutouts totaled 279.50 loads with 215.19 loads of pork cuts and 64.31 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $2.93, $90.21. Thursday's slaughter is estimated at 494,000 head, steady with a week ago and 17,000 head more than a year ago. The CME lean hog index 11/18/2025: down $0.40, $86.27.
FRIDAY'S HOG CALL: Lower. At this point, it's looking like packers simply didn't need many hogs for the week.
No comments:
Post a Comment