April Lean Hogs opened lower and broke down to the low at 82.075. It recovered and rallied to the session high at 83.425. It couldn’t sustain the rally and broke down the rest of the session approaching the low and settling near the low at 82.20. The initial breakdown took price back to the break out candle from January 24th. The recovery tested the open and resistance at 83.325 and the flat 8-DMA now at 83.575. Futures couldn’t overcome resistance as Equity weakness, a rising Dollar and interest rates had traders thinking, in my opinion that Hog futures may have gotten a little ahead of itself with the April contract trading at a stiff premium to the cash index. The cutout index has stalled, unable to break 90.00 and starting to falter. It has drifted lower the past week and is moving toward the lower end of tits 85.00 – 90.00 trading range. If price can’t hold settlement, we could see a pullback to support at 81.70. The rising 13-DMA is next at 81.375. Support then comes in at 79.40. If settlement holds, price could revisit resistance. The Friday high is next at 84.425.
The Pork Cutout Index decreased and is at 88.44 as of 02/02/2024.
The Lean Hog Index increased and is at 73.12 as of 02/01/2024.
Estimated Slaughter for Monday is 492,000, which is above last week’s 490,000 and last year’s 478,106.
For those interested I hold a weekly livestock webinar on Tuesdays and my next webinar will be Tuesday, February 06, 2024, at 3:00 pm. It is free for anyone who wants to sign up and the link for sign up is below. If you cannot attend live a recording will be sent to your email upon completion of the webinar.
**Call me for a free consultation for a marketing plan regarding your livestock needs.**
Ben DiCostanzo
Senior Market Strategist
Walsh Trading, Inc.
Direct: 312.957.4163
888.391.7894
Fax: 312.256.0109
Walsh Trading, Inc. is registered as a Guaranteed Introducing Broker with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and an NFA Member.
tested support at the
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