DTN Closing Livestock Comment 03/01 15:38

DTN Closing Livestock Comment 03/01 15:38 Livestock Gains Erode Late Friday Early gains quickly developed in all livestock trade Friday morning, but Limited buyer interest pressured futures the rest of the session, resulting in futures ending mixed at closing bell. By Rick Kment DTN Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Strong early gains across livestock trade were short-lived as initial support failed to hold in limited volume, allowing end-of-the-week positioning to develop late Friday. The feeder cattle market was the most volatile with nearby futures posting triple-digit losses while the deferred January 2020 contract sustained a triple-digit gain. From Friday to Friday, livestock futures scored the following changes: Apr LC up $0.88; Jun LC up $0.95; Mar FC off $1.68; Apr FC off $0.25; Apr LH up $0.95; May LH up $0.45. Cash cattle trade was developing Friday with light-to-moderate dressed cattle trade taking place in Nebraska and Iowa late morning at $205 per cwt. This is generally $3 per cwt higher than last week. Afternoon trade started to develop in the live market in all areas with prices at $128 per cwt, $2 per cwt higher. Though additional activity is likely to develop through the afternoon, the trend of the market likely has been set. The National Daily Direct afternoon hog report was $0.33 higher ($42-$45.29, weighted average $45.01) on 3,515 head sold. Corn futures were higher in light activity with May up 2 cents per bushel. The Dow Jones Index was 105 points higher with the Nasdaq up 59 points.