Early selling in October hogs found support under $68, that carried the market higher into the end of the day. At the close, October was back above it’s 50 day moving average for the first time in nearly a month. The hog index was down 12 cents at $85.50, and projected $.25 lower for Monday.
Spot weaned pig prices turned back down in July, but stabilized and then ticked higher last week on better forward margins. Hogs placed today are now being marketed against the February contract, which is several dollars over December, and placed against margins are also well above a year ago. The USDA reported weekly average spot weaned pig price of $20.57/head, up $1.53 from last week, but just barely higher than a year ago. Seasonally, the spot weaned pig market typically forms lows in late August, and gains into the end of the year as pigs are valued against spring hog futures.
