DTN Midday Livestock Comments 01/04 12:13

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 01/04 12:13 Cattle Face Pressure Amid the New Year While Hogs Trade Higher It's a mixed day for the livestock contracts as cattle wane lower from corn pressure while the lean hog contracts find moderate support. ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst The livestock contracts are trading about as polar opposite to one another as possible heading into Monday's afternoon trade. The cattle contracts are feeling immense bearish pressure as the corn market trades at levels not seen in the last six years and feedlots cost of gain expenses rise considerably. Meanwhile the hog complex trades comfortably as traders are willing to invest and support is found both technically and fundamentally. March corn is down 2 cents per bushel and March soybean meal is down $2.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 634.32 points and NASDAQ is down 279.20 points. LIVE CATTLE It's a tough day for the cattle contracts as the pressure in the corn market pushes both the live cattle and feeder cattle markets lower. February live cattle are down $3.00 at $112.02, April live cattle are down $2.95 at $116.30 and June live cattle are down $2.12 at $112.57. Following last week's strong cash cattle market, feedlots are expected to price cattle higher again this week as boxed beef prices continue to show strong development and ample demand. Showlists appear to be higher in all major feeding states this week. Last week's negotiated cash cattle trade totaled 81,517 head. Of that 58,709 head are committed for delivery in the next two weeks while the remaining 22,808 head are for delivery in the following 15 to 30 days. Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $2.67 ($212.02) and select up $1.78 ($196.75) with a movement of 48 loads (21.06 loads of choice, 7.54 loads of select, 6.38 loads of trim and 13.06 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE Feeder buyers are looking at the corn market, relooking at their cost of gain expenses and are not liking how their breakevens are appearing. Technically it's a tough market as the corn market's price levels beg the feeder cattle contracts to trade lower, but yet feeders are still being met with moderate demand throughout the countryside. It will be critical to see how the week close came Friday as the market gets back to business following two holiday weeks and as traders prepare to dig in for the New Year. January feeders are down $3.57 at $135.37, March feeders are down $3.97 at $136.17 and April feeders are down $3.65 at $138.12. LEAN HOGS The lean hog market doesn't wish ill on the cattle contracts but soaking up all the support the industry has to offer feels pretty dang good! February lean hogs are up $1.20 at $71.47, April lean hogs are up $1.70 at $73.95 and June lean hogs are up $1.02 at $83.85. The market's support is seen from dual angles as technically the board has been amply supported Monday morning but from a fundamental perspective the marketplace may be even better yet as both the cash market and cutout values see strong demand. In order for the day's support to trickle into the later part of the week, Monday's afternoon cutout values need to close higher, which seems attainable. The projected lean hog index for 12/30/2020 is up $0.21 at $60.07, and the actual index for 12/29/2020 is down $0.07 at $59.86. Hog prices are higher on the National Direct Morning Hog Report, up $2.17 with a weighted average of $51.28, ranging from $47.75 to $53.47 on 4,903 head and a five-day rolling average of $49.81. Pork cutouts total 115.99 loads with 104.45 loads of pork cuts and 11.54 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $7.16, $85.74. ShayLe Stewart can be reached [email protected] (c) Copyright 2021 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.