GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex is trading mixed into Friday's noon hour as the market tries to regain focus following the Christmas holiday. Still no new cash cattle trade has developed and no bids are currently on the table. March corn is down 1 1/2 cents per bushel and March soybean meal is up $0.30. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 55.22 points and NASDAQ is down 1.33 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The live cattle complex is trading higher into Friday's noon hour after as the market is seeing a little bit of a post-holiday rally. More than anything it seems as though the contracts are trading a tic higher after a weaker close on Wednesday as traders elected to let the contracts fall away from the market's resistance at its 100-day moving average. February live cattle are up $1.05 at $229.60, April live cattle are up $1.07 at $229.80 and June live cattle are up $1.00 at $224.20. No new cash cattle trade has developed yet Friday, but some light, clean-up trade could still develop ahead of the day's end. This week a light trade has been reported in the North with dressed deals done at mostly $356, $1 lower than last week's weighted average, basis Nebraska. Southern live deals have been marked at mostly $229, $2 higher than last week's weighted average basis Kansas.
Boxed beef prices are lower: choice down $3.33 ($351.29) and select down $0.50 ($345.25) with a movement of 34 loads (17.86 loads of choice, 3.08 loads of select, 3.83 loads of trim and 9.48 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
The feeder cattle complex is again following the direction of the live cattle market as it too is higher. But what's different about the feeder cattle complex as opposed to the live cattle market is that for the last four trading days, the feeder cattle complex has been able to maintain a position above the market's 100-day moving average in its spot March contract. January feeders are up $1.57 at $346.30, March feeders are up $1.92 at $340.72 and April feeders are up $1.87 at $339.37.
LEAN HOGS:
Although pork cutout values are up noticeably, the lean hog contracts are still trading lower. February lean hogs are down $0.67 at $84.37, April lean hogs are down $0.42 at $89.37 and June lean hogs are down $0.27 at $102.25. It's unlikely we will see much more cash hog trade develop ahead of Friday's close, as the shortened holiday week has affected kill schedules and packers' need to buy in the cash market.
The projected CME Lean Hog Index for 12/24/2025 is up $0.13 at $83.84, and the actual index for 12/23/2025 is down $0.01 at $83.71. Hog prices are unavailable Friday morning because no hogs have traded. Pork cutouts total 74.95 loads with 66.83 loads of pork cuts and 8.13 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $6.10, $99.76.
No comments:
Post a Comment