DTN Closing Livestock Comment 08/27 16:20

DTN Closing Livestock Comment 08/27 16:20 Meat Futures Launch Last Week of August With Bullish Surge Lean hog futures closed sharply higher based on the announcement of a new trade deal between Mexico and the U.S. The cattle complex settled significantly higher as well, boosted by technical-buying, bullish outside markets and spillover bullishness from the lean hog board. By John Harrington DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS The cash cattle trade was typically restricted to the distribution of new showlists. Ready numbers appear to be larger in the South (especially Texas), smaller in Nebraska and about steady in Colorado. Overall, the pre-holiday offering appears to be somewhat larger than the previous week. According to the closing report, the national hog base is $0.18 higher compared with the Prior Day settlement ($33-$37.65, weighted average $37.22). Despite the announcement of a preliminary trade deal between Mexico and the U.S., corn futures only managed to close modestly higher. Apparently, bears focused more on the growing likelihood of a bumper corn harvest. The stock market closed significantly higher with the Dow up 259 points and the Nasdaq settled 71 higher.