Cattle See Cash Strength, Close Mixed on Friday
Live cattle futures closed out the Friday session with contracts down 25 cents to up 62 in some deferreds. Cash trade settled in last week around $191 in the South and $191-192 in the North.
Feeder cattle were up 90 cents to $1.25 across the board on the day. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was up another $1.36 from the day prior at $261.83 on December 5.
CFTC Commitment of Traders data showed spec funds adding 7,004 contracts to their net long at 122,400 contracts in live cattle futures and options as of Tuesday. In Feeder cattle, managed money added 2,119 contracts to their net long as of 12/3 to 18,854 contracts.
Accumulated beef exports via the Export Sales report have totaled 727,642 MT, which is down 1.95% from last year. Total commitments by adding in unshipped sales are up 0.6% at 831,321 MT.
USDA wholesale Boxed Beef prices were back mixed in the Friday PM report. Choice boxes were up $4.20 to $312.04/cwt, with Select 37 cents lower @ $276.73. USDA estimated last week’s federally inspected cattle slaughter at 614,000 head through Saturday. That was 14,20 head below the same week last year.
Dec 24 Live Cattle closed at $187.375, up $0.400,
Feb 25 Live Cattle closed at $186.175, down $0.150,
Apr 25 Live Cattle closed at $188.300, down $0.250,
Jan 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $255.825, up $0.900,
Mar 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $254.675, up $1.075,
Apr 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $255.575, up $0.950,
On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.