Hogs were higher at the open and pushed to new highs in early trade, but the rally to new highs found limited follow through demand, and futures sold lower in the last half of the day. June finished a nickel higher and the rest of the market was lower at the close. The hog index was up a nickel at $75.94 and projected $.14 higher for Thursday. The pork cutout was $.44 lower in the afternoon.
Estimated packer margins have improved over last week, with the pork cutout/lean hog index spread at $14, up $2.50 from a week ago and nearly $9 over a year ago. Despite strong margins the weekend kill will be light due to the holiday. As of Wednesday morning there were just 7,530 head scheduled to be delivered over the weekend, and just 60,000 head scheduled for Monday.
At this week’s high, June hogs were $13 over the April low, with July more than $11 higher. The upside nearby remains limited, while December above $61 still looks too high.
