Live Cattle Futures See Week-End Gains Amid Mixed Market Reports
Market Performance Highlights: Live cattle futures experienced gains on Friday, ranging from 62 cents to $1.85, despite a downward trend for February, which lost $3.625 over the week. In market transactions, cattle sold for $195-195.50 in the North, remaining steady from the previous week, while Southern markets saw lighter activity at $191. Meanwhile, feeder cattle futures increased by $1.07 to $1.42 on Friday, with January’s weekly loss limited to $2.05. The CME Feeder Cattle Index dipped 8 cents from the previous day, closing at $262.15 on December 19.
Cattle on Feed Data Provides Key Insights: The USDA released its monthly Cattle on Feed report on Friday, revealing that 1.796 million head of cattle were placed in November. This figure reflects a 3.7% decrease from the previous year and slightly exceeded estimates. Marketing activity in November also fell by 1.48%, totaling 1.725 million head, which was above expectations. Additionally, the December 1 on-feed inventory was down 0.28%, totaling 11.982 million head compared to last year.
Speculative Positions Show Significant Growth: According to Commitment of Traders data, managed money spec funds boosted their net long positions by 8,040 contracts as of Tuesday, marking the largest increase in more than five and a half years, reaching a total of 134,348 contracts. In the feeder cattle market, the CFTC data indicated a net long position increase of 712 contracts, nearing a record at 20,578 contracts.
USDA Boxed Beef Report Reveals Mixed Trends: The USDA’s Friday afternoon report on wholesale Boxed Beef prices showed mixed results. Choice boxes decreased by $4.84, settling at $315.85 per hundredweight (cwt), while Select boxes rose by $1.80 to $285.91. USDA estimates indicated that the federally inspected cattle slaughter last week totaled 617,000 head, which is an increase of 8,000 head from the week prior, but a decrease of 4,036 head compared to the same week last year.
Closing Prices for Cattle Futures:
- Dec 24 Live Cattle closed at $191.325, up $0.975
- Feb 25 Live Cattle closed at $188.400, up $1.850
- Apr 25 Live Cattle closed at $190.125, up $1.525
- Jan 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $255.600, up $1.125
- Mar 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $255.825, up $1.250
- Apr 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $256.750, up $1.300
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 are solely for informational purposes. For more information, please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
