DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 03/16 06:39
16 Mar 2018
DTN Early Word Opening Livestock 03/16 06:39 Tariff for Beef to Japan to Decrease by End of March Look for live and feeder contracts to open mixed this morning thanks to a combination of residual selling and late week short covering. Lean hog futures should also begin with uneven price action with deferreds probably gaining more ground on spot April. By John Harrington DTN Livestock Analyst Cattle: Steady-firm w/Tues Futures: mixed Live Equiv $149.73 + 0.12* Hogs: Steady Futures: mixed Lean Equiv $ 77.85 + 0.51** * based on formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer revenue ** based on formula estimating lean hog equivalent of gross packer revenue GENERAL COMMENTS: The cash cattle trade could be rather slow today, limited to clean-up deals in parts of the North. Frankly, we were surprised when mandatory reported more than 10,000 head traded on Thursday. That level of business flew under our radar. Whatever. WTD trade volume in all areas my now be sufficient to essential call it a week. What unsold steers and heifers remain unsold seem to priced around $128-129 live and $207-plus. Live and feeder futures should open on a mixed basis thanks to follow-through selling on one hand and late-week short covering on the other.