DTN Closing Livestock Comment 03/29 15:16

DTN Closing Livestock Comment 03/29 15:16 Cattle Gain, Hogs Slip Amid Geopolitical Shifts Feeder cattle led the livestock futures trade with triple-digit gains Tuesday, given new optimism as feed prices lost some of their Ukraine-related risk premium. Lean hog futures, however, moved lower like the grains and energy commodities, dropping some risk premium of their own. Elaine Kub Contributing Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Livestock futures trading volume picked up through Tuesday afternoon as traders seemed to note that grains' volatile losses weren't just a flash in the pan. However, in the days to come, all these markets will still have to recognize that the Black Sea ports are still facing conflict, and scarce spring planting inputs mean global feed grains' high prices are no short-term problem. For now, though, Tuesday's gains have allowed nearby live cattle futures to regain $140 per cwt, and spring feeder cattle contracts displayed even more optimism with gains of $3 to $4 per cwt. As the week moves on, hog futures will also need to incorporate information from the upcoming Hogs and Pigs report Wednesday. On the National Direct Afternoon Hog Report, negotiated prices were down $1.96 to a weighted average price of $103.93 on 8,899 head, and the 5-day rolling average was $106.22 per cwt. May corn moved down 22 1/4 cents per bushel to $7.26 1/4 and May soybean meal was down $12.90 per ton to $466.00. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 315 points and the NASDAQ is up 237 points.