DTN Closing Livestock Comment 12/18 15:49
18 Dec 2018
DTN Closing Livestock Comment 12/18 15:49 Cattle Futures Shift Higher The entire cattle complex saw strong gains Tuesday, helping to spark additional buyer activity. Hog futures continued to erode lower Tuesday. By Rick Kment DTN Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Cash cattle markets remained sluggish with bids and asking prices hard to pin down in most areas. A few cattle sold in Iowa at $118 per cwt Tuesday afternoon. But this is not even enough to establish a good market test. Even though bids may start to become more evident midweek, it may be Friday before active trade is seen. According to the closing report, the national hog base is $0.58 lower compared with the Prior Day settlement ($42-$47.89, weighted average $46.58). Corn futures were higher in light activity, with March futures 1 1/2 higher. The Dow Jones Index was 62 points lower with Nasdaq down 16 points.