Cattle futures are higher early Tuesday, hogs trade 2-sided with lower grain prices.
Cattle futures recover after a day of technical selling on Monday after prices hit and could not take out resistance levels again on the charts.
Some of the live and deferred feeder cattle futures contracts had a poor technical close scoring bearish reversals on the charts.
Brad Kooima of Kooima Kooima Varilek says last week’s higher cash trade and higher boxed beef values continue to be supportive as well as the futures discount.
Choice boxed beef on Monday afternoon was up $1.06 to $314.81 and cash last week was higher with the 5 Area Weighted Average at $195.21, up $1.54 and bucked the lower seasonal trend.
Cash in the South was mostly $190 live up $2 from the previous week and the North is still running premium at $312 dressed and $198 live, which was also up $2.
However, Kooima says to keep going October live cattle need to take out resistance at $189.
The fundamental factors holding back cattle are continued higher carcass weights and packer kill cuts.
Kooima says, “We have two regional packers in the North that will be dark on Friday, another plant was dark on Monday and a major packer is only killing 4 days a week or 32 hours.”
Feeder cattle started higher with live cattle and lower corn prices but have traded 2-sided as the deferred contracts also scored bearish reversals just like some of the live cattle contracts on Monday.
Lean hog futures trade 2-sided early trying to hold support after a wicked technical reversal last week and with help from higher cutouts and the higher lean hog index.
Grains are lower with new lows in soybeans on rains that fell in the Corn Belt and a more favorable extended forecast and that is weighing on corn.
