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DTN Midday Livestock Comments 01/15 11:44
Traders Continue to Push Livestock Contracts Higher
Asking prices have been noted in the South at $202 to $205, but are still
not established for the North.
ShayLe Stewart
DTN Livestock Analyst
GENERAL COMMENTS:
Both the live cattle and feeder cattle contracts are again trading higher
into today's noon hour as the market remains confident in the strong
fundamental support. Some light trade has been noted in Kansas at $201 which is
mostly steady with last week's weighted average. March corn is up 3 1/2 cents
per bushel and March soybean meal is down $3.00. The Dow Jones Industrial
Average is up 641.84 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
It's another strong day for the live cattle complex as traders continue to
advance the complex with the belief that market fundamentals will remain strong
through the week's end. There's been a little movement in Kansas where a
handful of live cattle traded for $201 which is mostly steady with last week's
weighted average -- but given that only a small sampling has been sold at that
price, I don't believe a trend has been established yet for the week. Asking
prices have surfaced at $202 to $205 for the South but are still not
established for the North. February live cattle are up $0.55 at $197.95, April
live cattle are up $0.82 at $198.97 and June live cattle are up $0.80 at
$193.00.
Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice up $1.43 ($334.41) and select down $1.45
($317.26) with a movement of 76 loads (49.21 loads of choice, 17.13 loads of
select, zero loads of trim and 9.76 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
Although the nearby corn contracts are trading slightly higher, the feeder
cattle market continues to rally as traders feel well supported by the live
cattle contracts trading higher and upon the continued support of incredible
feeder cattle sales in the countryside. January feeders are up $0.25 at
$274.35, March feeders are up $1.05 at $269.25 and April feeders are up $1.02
at $269.57. The spot March contract is fearful of the resistance at $270, and
unless something wild happens in the fed cash cattle market, it's unlikely that
traders will tackle that threshold today.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex is continuing to grind higher as the market is
thoroughly pleased with the uptick of demand that it's recently seen. February
lean hogs are down $0.45 at $83.17, April lean hogs are up $0.62 at $91.12 and
June lean hogs are up $0.42 at $103.97. The rib is again the biggest leading
cut this morning with its $3.11 gain, but the ham is also up $2.29 helping push
the carcass price higher.
The projected lean hog index for 1/14/2025 is up $0.11 at $81.10, and the
actual lean hog index for 1/13/2025 is up $0.23 at $80.99. Hog prices are
unavailable on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report because of packer submission
issues. Pork cutouts total 195.97 loads with 159.27 loads of pork cuts and
36.69 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.91, $91.12.
ShayLe Stewart can be reached shayle.stewart@dtn.com
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