DTN Midday Livestock Comments          11/20 11:50

   Hogs Jump Higher while Cattle Pause Their Rally

   No trade has developed yet in the cash cattle market and it is likely trade 
will be delayed until Thursday or Friday as packers again hope to get cattle 
bought cheaper.

ShayLe Stewart
DTN Livestock Analyst

GENERAL COMMENTS:

   The livestock complex is seeing mixed interest this morning as the lean hog 
contracts are successfully rallying into Wednesday's noon hour but the cattle 
contracts are trading slightly lower. More than anything the cattle complex 
hopes to find some better fundamental support to reassure traders of their 
recent move. December corn is up 3 1/4 cents per bushel and December soybean 
meal is up $1.30. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 65.17 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

   After trading substantially higher earlier in the week, the live cattle 
complex is now trading slightly lower as traders need to see followed-through 
fundamental support before they'll likely advance the contracts again. Not to 
mention when there's a Cattle on Feed report set to be released, traders 
usually pull back from the market ahead of seeing what the report yields. 
December live cattle are down $0.30 at $186.27, February live cattle are down 
$0.12 at $187.87 and April live cattle are up $0.30 at $189.72. The cash cattle 
market is still quiet without any bids currently being offered. Asking prices 
are noted in the South at $187 to $188, but are still not established in the 
North. Packer demand could improve throughout the day, but it's most likely 
that trade will be delayed until Thursday or Friday.

   Boxed beef prices are lower: choice down $0.48 ($308.31) and select down 
$0.99 ($270.92) with a movement of 64 loads (40.67 loads of choice, 10.97 loads 
of select, 5.38 loads of trim and 6.83 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

   The momentum that helped drive the feeder cattle contracts higher has 
simmered down as trades are now looking around needing fundamental support to 
give them reassurance in their recent move. January feeders are down $0.05 at 
$251.95, March feeders are down $0.20 at $251.05 and April feeders are down 
$0.10 at $252.05. Even though buyer demand is still excellent throughout the 
countryside for both feeders and calves, it's likely that traders will remain 
cautious until they see what Friday's Cattle on Feed report yields.

LEAN HOGS:

   The cattle contracts may be trading in a slightly lower manner, but the lean 
hog complex finally attracted traders which has helped propel the contracts 
into Wednesday's noon hour. Also helping push the contracts along is the higher 
note in pork cutout values, which is mostly derived from the belly's $8.28 
jump, and the picnic's $6.96 jump. December lean hogs are up $1.05 at $80.60, 
February lean hogs are up $1.82 at $84.70 and April lean hogs are up $1.75 at 
$88.85.

   The projected lean hog index for 11/19/2024 is down $0.26 at $87.83, and the 
actual index for 11/18/2024 is down $0.40 at $88.09. Hog prices are higher on 
the Daily Direct Morning Hog report, up $3.16 with a weighted average price of 
$85.16, ranging from $78.00 to $86.00 on 2,171 head and a five-day rolling 
average of $84.51. Pork cutouts total 137.23 loads with 112.02 loads of pork 
cuts and 25.21 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $2.29, $96.97.

   ShayLe Stewart can be reached shayle.stewart@dtn.com

    




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