DTN Early Word Livestock Comments 10/12 06:08

DTN Early Word Livestock Comments 10/12 06:08 Cattle Search for Direction It was a rather neutral day for live cattle Monday with futures trading in a relatively tight range and prices finally settling on both sides of unchanged in closer months. Hogs were under pressure all day, unable to uncover aggressive buying interest as traders are wary about near-term demand and hog supplies. Robin Schmahl DTN Contributing Analyst Cattle: Steady Futures: Mixed Live Equiv: $210.99 -0.87* Hogs: Steady Futures: Mixed Lean Equiv: $115.09 +1.02** *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: Live cattle futures were content to trade in a rather narrow range. Traders did not have much to go on to tip their interest one way or the other. New showlists Monday were rather light. This could spark some concern from packers as they will need to purchase cattle. With less to choose from, they might need to bid higher to obtain the desired numbers for the week. That could change Tuesday if more are listed. No bids were posted as usual early in the week as packers will look at what they have to work with and what they need to purchase for the week. Boxed beef prices were mixed Monday with choice cuts down $2.15 and select cuts up $1.70. The recent action of boxed beef prices could indicate a bottom of prices might be developing. The Commitment of Traders report showed funds as net sellers of 3,613 contracts reducing their net-long positions to 25,157.