Cattle Mixed on Friday, as Feeder Turn to Strength
Live cattle futures closed out the Friday session with contracts anywhere from 37 cents lower in nearby Dec to 35 cents higher for April. Dec saw a $3.22 drop since last Friday. Cash action saw trade this week anywhere from $189-190. Feeder cattle futures shrugged off early losses and settled the day with gains of $1.10 to $2.07 across most contracts. That helped to limit November’s weekly loss to just $1.70. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was down 22 cents at $250.98 on October 31.
Friday’s Commitment of Traders report showed managed money adding 8,178 contracts to their net long in live cattle futures and options as of 10/29. That took them to a net long of 98,569 contracts. In feeder cattle, they backed off their net long by 555 contracts to 8,960 contracts.
USDA wholesale Boxed Beef prices were lower again in the Friday afternoon report. Choice boxes were down $1.26 to $316.34/cwt, with Select 34 cents lower @ $285.03. The Chc/Sel spread narrowed to $31.31. USDA estimated this week’s federally inspected cattle slaughter at 615,000 head. That is 8,000 head below the previous week and down 21,337 head from the same week last year.
Dec 24 Live Cattle closed at $185.925, down $0.375,
Feb 25 Live Cattle closed at $186.900, up $0.125,
Apr 25 Live Cattle closed at $187.700, up $0.350,
Nov 24 Feeder Cattle closed at $246.875, up $1.500,
Jan 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $243.200, up $1.875,
Mar 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $241.150, up $2.075,
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.