DTN Early Word Livestock Comments 07/12 06:27

DTN Early Word Livestock Comments 07/12 06:27 Cattle Futures Search for Direction There may be some influence on the livestock complex based on results of the World Agricultural Supply and Demand report Monday. Cattle futures are struggling to find support. Hogs will need to see more aggressive buying interest from packers to push futures contracts higher. Robin Schmahl DTN Contributing Analyst Cattle: Steady Futures: Higher Live Equiv: $205.41 -1.74* Hogs: Steady Futures: Higher Lean Equiv: $123.17 -0.38** * based on formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer revenue. (The Live Cattle Equiv. Index has been updated to depict recent changes in live cattle weights and grading percentages.) ** based on formula estimating lean hog equivalent of gross packer revenue GENERAL COMMENTS: The higher close on Friday for cattle gave a ray of hope that futures may not continue to fall. However, there wasn't much to suggest solid support has been reached. Maybe the higher close was the result of positioning before the weekend. Cash did not perform any better than the week before and boxed beef continues to plummet. This will keep packers less aggressive this week. However, export sales were good at 23,700 metric tons (mt), up 96% from the previous week and up 64% from the four-week average. The market will need to see more of that in order to keep beef from backing up domestically. The market may not do to much as traders await the World Agricultural Supply and Demand report out Monday at 11:00 a.m. CT. The report will have an influence on grain prices and subsequently, cattle futures. It may also dictate whether packers may need to bid steady with last week or lower bids if grain price shoot higher.