DTN Closing Livestock Comment 03/08 16:52
8 Mar 2018
DTN Closing Livestock Comment 03/08 16:52 Cattle Futures Crash to New Lows Triple-digit losses essentially dominated the cattle complex Thursday thanks to aggressive long liquidation and technical selling. On the other hand, lean hog contracts closed no worse than mixed with spot April and the far deferreds gaining on summer months. By John Harrington DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS Triggered by an odd combination of defensive futures and short bought packers, moderate trade volume developed in most areas of cattle feeding country. Both live and dressed prices were essentially steady with last week (i.e., $126-to-127; mostly $204, a few up to $205). According to the closing report, the national hog base is .37 lower ($54.00-to-$63.50, weighted average $62.41). The corn market jumped as much as 6 cents higher, with buying strength tied in part to the USDA's reduction in its estimate of the 2017-18 carryout. The stock market closed generally higher with the Dow up 93 points and the Nasdaq better by 31.