DTN Midday Livestock Comments 11/17 11:37

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 11/17 11:37 Stronger Tones Push Livestock Complex Higher Midday Thursday The cash cattle market sits with bids offered in Nebraska, but otherwise the market hasn't seen any interest. ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: The cattle contracts are rallying into Thursday's afternoon as the market warmly welcomes the added interest from traders and thrives on the assumption that Friday's Cattle on Feed report could be bullish. The lean hog complex is trading higher too as it likes the export demand it saw this morning. December corn is down 6 1/2 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is down $3.40. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 27.36 points. LIVE CATTLE: The live cattle contracts as the market pushes a modest rally into Thursday's noon hour. This week's cash cattle market has traded mostly steady with last week's weighted averages, but there are a few bids being throw out at midday. Bids of $153 are being offered in Nebraska, and bids of $242 dressed are also being offered in Nebraska. The market is also taking note of Thursday's strong boxed beef prices. The day is confidently trading higher and isn't downed by the lackadaisical export data that it received Thursday morning. December live cattle are up $0.32 at $152.12, February live cattle are up $0.55 at $154.80 and April live cattle are up $0.65 at $158.37. Beef net sales of 13,400 mt for 2022 were primarily for Mexico (5,200 mt), Japan (2,500 mt) and Canada (1,800 mt). Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $1.03 ($258.12) and select up $1.63 ($232.98) with a movement of 71 loads (43.96 loads of choice, 7.94 loads of select, 9.52 loads of trim and 9.64 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: As the corn market trends $0.06 lower into Thursday's afternoon, the feeder cattle contracts are enjoying a 100- to 200-point rally into the day's afternoon. Along with lower corn prices the market is absorbing some spillover support that's coming from the live cattle complex, its market also trades higher as traders are anticipating a strong Cattle on Feed report to be unveiled on Friday. January feeders are up $2.27 at $179.75, March feeders are up $2.17 at $182.42 and April feeders are up $2.05 at $185.70. LEAN HOGS: The lean hog complex is rallying into Thursday's afternoon as the market warmly welcomes Thursday's export data, which didn't list China as one of the top buyers, but it did have a respectable movement of 25,200 metric tons. Also helping the lean hog market's case is the fact that pork cutout values are slightly higher, which, if closing values are able to keep the positive tone through the day's end, that could help propel Friday's market higher. The cash hog market has traded lower Thursday morning, but that was fully expected as packers had bought aggressively earlier in the week. Heading into the afternoon, monitoring pork cutout values and the day's slaughter pace will important. December lean hogs are up $0.12 at $85.70, February lean hogs are up $0.75 at $91.10 and April lean hogs are up $0.50 at $96.12. Pork net sales of 25,200 mt for 2022 were primarily for Mexico (15,300 mt), Japan (4,300 mt) and Canada (1,900 mt). The projected lean hog index for Nov. 16 is down $0.08 at $88.14, and the actual index for Nov. 15 is down $0.27 at $88.22. Hog prices are lower on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, down $2.40 with a weighted average of $83.12, ranging from $74.00 to $87.50 on 4,136 head and a five-day rolling average of $84.38. Pork cutouts total 158.49 loads with 134.89 loads of pork cuts and 23.59 loads of trim. Pork cutout value: up $0.16, $93.79. ShayLe Stewart can be reached [email protected] ** Cattlemen are eager for supply and demand mechanics to swing their way, but the market isn't completely free of hurdles as bearish concerns about the U.S. and global economies loom. Hear DTN Livestock Analyst ShayLe Stewart's thoughts on the 2023 cattle market at the all-virtual DTN Ag Summit on Dec. 12-13. Full details available at http://www.dtn.com/agsummit (c) Copyright 2022 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.