DTN Closing Livestock Comment 02/24 15:24

DTN Closing Livestock Comment 02/24 15:24 Livestock Futures Drop $2 to $4 On Wild Day Live cattle, feeder cattle and lean hog futures all collapsed by triple digits Thursday amid frantic trading volume, mostly driven by the wild outside markets that got seriously spooked by Russian aggression and a new war in Europe. Elaine Kub Contributing Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: The actual values of animals and meat products in the U.S. haven't been instantaneously changed by this new war in Ukraine. Cash cattle, for instance, saw light trade Thursday fully steady with last week's weighted averages: $142 Southern live basis. On the National Direct Afternoon Hog Report, prices were down $6.97 to a weighted average price of $88.13 on 3,100 head, but base prices ranged widely between $85 and $101.50. The futures markets are, of course, more sensitive to the global panic of the day, and Thursday's dramatic chart action will carry a long-term legacy that will either last as the pivot point putting an end to the past month's upward trend or require some serious correction in the coming days. March corn is up 11 1/4 cents per bushel to $6.95 and March soybean meal is down $6.20 per ton to $464.90. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 91 points and the NASDAQ closed up 465 points.