Cattle Face Pressure on Thursday
Live cattle futures closed out the Thursday session with loses of 20 cents to $1. Cash trade has been slower this week, kicking on with light action at $199 in the South and $315 dressed in the North. The Thursday morning Central Stockyards online Fed Cattle Exchange auction showed sales 113 of the 994 head listed at $201, with other bids at $198. Feeder cattle futures bounced off some lows into Thursday’s close with contracts still down $1.75 to $2.25 The CME Feeder Cattle Index was up another 30 cents on February 19 at $278.81.
Thursday afternoon’s National Wholesale Boxed Beef report was lower, as the Chc/Sel spread was tighter at $9.45. Choice boxes were another $1.26 lower at $312.63/cwt, with Select down 58 cents to $303.18. The Thursday Federally inspected cattle slaughter was estimated at 117,000 head, taking the week to date total to 447,000 head. That is down 7,000 head from the previous week and 13,012 head below the same week last year.
Feb 25 Live Cattle closed at $197.625, down $0.200,
Apr 25 Live Cattle closed at $193.800, down $0.975,
Jun 25 Live Cattle closed at $189.975, down $0.950,
Mar 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $266.825, down $2.200,
Apr 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $266.375, down $2.225,
May 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $265.075, down $1.975,
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.