DTN Closing Livestock Comment 08/27 15:57

DTN Closing Livestock Comment 08/27 15:57 Lean Hog Futures Rally Friday Following a week of back-and-forth market shifts, lean hog futures saw "fireworks" Friday with triple-digit gains seen in all nearby contracts. October futures led the complex higher, although this created optimism through the rest of the complex. Cattle markets struggled to gain traction following weakness that last few days. By Rick Kment, DTN Contributing Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: From Friday to Friday, livestock futures scored the following changes: Aug live cattle off $2.28, Oct live cattle up $0.07, Sep feeder cattle off $0.85, Oct feeder cattle up $0.80, October lean hogs up $2.10, December lean hogs up $1.35. Lean hog futures quickly became the bright spot of the day and week Friday afternoon with all nearby contracts posting triple-digit gains during Friday's session. The back-and-forth shifts in cash hog and pork values over the last few days have kept lean hog trade on an ever-changing roller coaster. But October futures led the entire livestock market higher, helping to secure not only a positive daily move, but strong weekly price shift. Cattle futures remained mixed in limited late-week trade. The tendency to back away from early week gains continues to spark uncertainty through the complex, but late-week positioning helped to minimize further losses. Boxed beef prices appear to have peaked, creating concern of further losses in beef prices heading into the Labor Day weekend. Hog prices moved lower on the National Direct Afternoon Hog Report in moderate trade, fell $1.32 with a weighted average of $92.54 on 5,115 head. December corn is up 3 cents per bushel, and December soybean meal is down $3.20 per ton. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 241 points, and the NASDAQ is up 183 points.