Cattle Futures Show Mixed Trends Amid Strengthening Cash Market
Market Activity Highlights Price Movements and Export Sales
Live cattle futures experienced slight declines on Friday, with December contracts dropping a tick while others rose between 20 to 60 cents. On Thursday, cash trade began at $185 across the nation, reflecting a drop of $1 to $3 from the previous week. Notably, feeder cattle led gains on Friday with increases of $2.60 to $3.025 as the cash market displayed signs of strengthening. The CME Feeder Cattle Index rose by $2.02, reaching $251.04 as of November 13.
This morning’s Export Sales report indicated beef bookings of 14,153 metric tons (MT), bouncing back from a calendar year low last week. Additionally, shipments reached 15,845 MT, marking a three-week high.
USDA’s wholesale Boxed Beef prices presented a mixed picture in the Friday morning report. Choice boxes decreased by 39 cents to settle at $303.41 per cwt, while Select boxes gained 13 cents, reaching $276.79. The Chc/Sel spread has tightened to $26.62. Additionally, USDA estimated that Thursday’s federally inspected cattle slaughter came in at 125,000 head, bringing the weekly total to 483,000 head. This figure falls short of the previous week by 11,000 head and is down 15,488 head compared to the same week last year.
Dec 24 Live Cattle are trading at $182.925, down $0.025.
Feb 25 Live Cattle are at $185.300, up $0.200.
Apr 25 Live Cattle are valued at $187.575, up $0.650.
Nov 24 Feeder Cattle are currently priced at $250.225, up $2.600.
Jan 25 Feeder Cattle are at $246.225, up $3.025.
Mar 25 Feeder Cattle are at $244.450, up $2.725.
On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not hold (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article are for informational purposes only. For more details, please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Nasdaq, Inc.
