DTN Early Word Livestock Comments 03/04 06:09

DTN Early Word Livestock Comments 03/04 06:09 Support Remains Elusive in Cattle Complex The cattle complex closed lower after making a valiant attempt to stop the bleeding on Wednesday. Lower cash trade dealt a blow to the near-term outlook. Hogs fared better managing a mixed close with the exception of significant pressure on the April contract. Robin Schmahl DTN Contributing Analyst Cattle: Lower. Futures: Mixed. Live Equiv: $191.93 -$1.65* Hogs: Lower. Futures: Mixed. Lean Equiv: $113.86 -$2.01** *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: Cattle are having difficulty finding support. The April live cattle contract fell through and closed below technical support from Jan. 24, closing the chart gap that remained since Nov 3, 2021. Again, charts gaps are generally closed at some point before the end of a contract. June has a gap about $3.00 lower. Other contracts are at or near technical support. The decline has been brutal with April futures falling $10.00 over the past month. The fundamental outlook of tighter supplies has not changed. The change has been in the demand sector. Boxed beef prices have fallen almost daily over the past month with choice down $1.37 and select down $3.55 Thursday. Lower cash this week pulled the rug out from under the market with cash trading $2.00 lower in both the North and South. Unfortunately, this may be the beginning of further weakness. Weekly export sales were good at 23,800 mt but had no impact on the market.