DTN Midday Livestock Comments 12/20 11:54

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 12/20 11:54 A Slow Start to Friday With Christmas on the brain, livestock contracts are left to fend for themselves as the complex is ready for the weekend. By ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst General Comments With Christmas being right around the corner, the complex is already starting to see a lack of interest and is having a hard time making any significant movement happen. Cattle contracts are trading lower, cash cattle trade has yet to develop on Friday and lean hog contracts are modestly trying to levitate some contracts. March corn is up 1 cent per bushel and January soybean meal is up $0.70. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 117.16 points and NASDAQ is up 34.81 points. LIVE CATTLE Time slowly passes by as most traders are anxious for the weekend to get any last-minute Christmas gifts and fully settle into the holiday spirit before next week. Cattle contracts are trading slowly in a slim trading range and will most likely keep this spirit through closing and into next week. December live cattle are down $0.02 at $122.10, February live cattle are up $0.07 at $125.70 and April live cattle are down $0.17 at $126.57. A few cash cattle bids sit on the table at $120 live and $192 dressed in Nebraska. Asking prices for the rest of the country are around $122 in the South and $195 in the North. Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice up $0.89 ($209.88) and select down $0.02 ($200.97) with a movement of 59 loads (37.84 loads of choice, 4.54 loads of select, 8.80 loads of trim and 7.75 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE Feeder cattle contracts are suffering from the same lack of interest as live cattle contracts, so trading lower seems to be the only option in sight. January feeder cattle contacts are down $0.45 at $144.27, March feeders are down $0.35 at $144.47 and April feeders are down $0.45 at $146.55. LEAN HOGS Lean hog contracts push into Friday's trading hours with the most momentum and eagerness to capture gains. The market is mixed with most nearby contracts lower and most deferred contracts higher. February lean hogs are up $0.05 at $71.02, April lean hogs are down $0.15 at $77.35 and May lean hog contracts are down $0.35 at $83.65. The projected lean hog index for 12/18/19 is down $0.42 at $60.23 and the actual for 12/17/19 is up $0.43 at $60.65. Hog prices on the National Direct Morning Hog Report are up $0.28 with a weighted average of $48.06, ranging from $42.00 to $49.04 on 7,017 head sold and a five-day rolling average of $48.23. Pork cutouts total 167.02 loads with 144.85 loads of pork cuts and 22.18 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.27 at $76.98 ShayLe Stewart can be reached at [email protected] (CZ) Copyright 2019 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.