DTN Midday Livestock Comments 10/11 12:16

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 10/11 12:16 Trade Rumors Spark Interest Friday's market opened to excitement and the hope of a promising trade agreement between China and the U.S. By ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst General Comments Promising trade rumors continue to surface Friday morning spurring excitement into most of the market and leading livestock markets to believe there is potential export opportunities somewhere around the corner. So far President Trump has talked about soybean purchases, but other agricultural sectors haven't been mentioned. December corn is up 14 3/4 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is up $3.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 375.63 points and NASDAQ is up 127.11 points. LIVE CATTLE Friday's December live cattle opened at $111.42 and has since jumped to $112.07. The market posts gains across the live cattle sector ranging from 20 cent gains to 60 cent gains. Friday's support in the live cattle market should help cash cattle bids etch up to where asking prices sit. A few more bids have surfaced in parts of Kansas and Texas at $105 to $106 (asking price: $109 to $110), Nebraska hosts bids of $170 to $172 (asking price: $175 to $178) and Iowa cattle have been bid at $172. There obviously is some ground to cover before transactions can take place, but bids have been placed and more interest is expected to develop as the noon hour comes and goes. Midday boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $0.25 ($215.88) and select up $1.49 ($188.15). Friday's midday offering of boxed beef movement totaled 65 loads (25.16 loads of choice cuts, 11.08 loads of select cuts, 13.70 loads of trim and 15.26 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE Feeder cattle markets can't seem to fire up the steam the rest of the market has caught and continues to lag behind. November feeder cattle are down $0.07 at $144.05. Though the losses are minute ranging anywhere from $0.07 to $0.30 in nearby and deferred contracts, the bigger problem lies in the fact that if the market closes lower this week, it will be tough on the sale barns next week that are expecting significant runs. LEAN HOGS Lean hog contracts jumped on the band wagon and pulled for higher prices Friday. Able to mark gains in most contracts ranging from $0.02 to $0.95, lean hogs can eye potentially higher closes for the week if the day stays on course as it is now. Largely the excitement stemmed from the trade agreement being hashed over with China, if things do end as U.S. producers hope the pork industry will have the opportunity to export hogs as soon as possible. The projected lean hog index for 10/10/19 is up $0.53 at $61.18, and the actual lean hog index for 10/09/19 came to $60.65 up $0.53. Prices are up on the National Direct Morning Hog Report, up $0.28 with a weighted average of $55.86 ranging from $52.00 to $59.00 on 6,315 head sold and a five-day rolling average of $52.64. Pork cutouts totaled 214.86 loads with 197.17 loads of pork cuts and 17.69 loads of trim. Pork cutout values are $2.37 higher at $79.28. ShayLe Stewart can be reached [email protected] (BE) Copyright 2019 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.