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DTN Midday Livestock Comments 03/04 11:43
Traders Push Livestock Contracts Higher
There's a single bid currently offered in Nebraska, but with the board
rebounding feedlot managers will likely wait until later in the week to trade
cattle in hopes of getting steady -- if not stronger -- prices.
ShayLe Stewart
DTN Livestock Analyst
GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex is rallying into Wednesday's noon hour as technical
support is ample right now. A single bid is on the table in the cash cattle
market, but no cattle have traded yet. May corn is down 4 1/4 cents per bushel
and May soybean meal is down $3.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up
270.87 points and NASDAQ is up 301.98 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The live cattle complex is charging full steam ahead into Wednesday's noon
hour as the market is currently trading $2.00 to $3.00 higher into the
afternoon. April live cattle are up $3.37 at $237.60, June live cattle are up
$3.75 at $234.42 and August live cattle are up $3.62 at $232.52. Pinpointing
what's driving the rally in the cattle sector is somewhat challenging, but more
than anything it seems as though traders have reignited their bullish sentiment
toward the market and are now giving the complex more technical support.
There's a single bid currently on the table in Nebraska at $375, but otherwise
no cattle have traded yet in the cash market.
Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $0.78 ($388.83) and select up $1.79
($380.37) with a movement of 52 loads (40.57 loads of choice, 4.68 loads of
select, 2.56 loads of trim and 4.11 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
Upon seeing the live cattle complex rally aggressively, the feeder cattle
contracts have jumped into action as well as most of the contracts are sizeable
$4.00 to $5.00 increases. March feeders are up $5.30 at $362.50, April feeders
are up $5.72 at $358.97 and May feeders are up $5.82 at $355.17. The 40-day
moving average seems to be giving the complex a little bit of resistance, but
if the live cattle complex continues to trade higher traders may elect to
conquer it later in the week.
LEAN HOGS:
With a slight uptick in pork demand, the lean hog contracts are also
rallying into Wednesday's noon hour. April lean hogs are up $1.10 at $96.85,
June lean hogs are up $1.62 at $111.10 and July lean hogs are up $1.42 at
$112.82. So far this week the market has chopped mostly sideways as traders
haven't wanted to push the contracts any higher without increased fundamental
support. But the slight uptick in pork demand has traders willing to advance
the contracts at this point in time.
The projected CME Lean Hog Index for 3/3/2026 is up $0.34 at $90.18 and the
actual index for 3/2/2026 is up $0.15 at $89.84. Hog prices are unavailable on
the Daily Direct Morning Hog report because of confidentiality. However, we can
see that 995 head have traded and that the market's five-day rolling average
sits at $91.29. Pork cutouts total 151.94 loads with 124.41 loads of pork cuts
and 27.53 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.63, $99.13.
ShayLe Stewart can be reached at shayle.stewart@dtn.com
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