Live cattle futures will look to react to continued sharp weakness in the stock market from overnight. They posted Friday losses of $5.42 to the $6.50 limit, as April was down $6.20 on the week. Monday will have expanded limits of $9.75. Preliminary open interest was down 13,497 contracts, confirming longs exiting the market. Cash trade was reported at $208 in the South last week, down $1-2 from last week. Northern sales have been steady to down $1 to $212-213. Feeder cattle futures were down $5.97 to the $8.25 limit on Friday, as April was $7.50 lower last week. Monday will have expanded limits of $12.25. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was back up 2 cents on April 2, with the average price at $291.95.
Outside of China’s retaliatory tariff of 34% on all US goods there were no major new announcements over the weekend.
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Commitment of Trader data from Friday indicated a total of 4,885 contracts added to the net long in live cattle futures and options as of April 1. That took the net long to 142,777 contracts. Speculators in Feeder cattle were peeling back record net long by 763 contracts to 33,369 contracts as of Tuesday.
USDA’s National Wholesale Boxed Beef report on Friday afternoon was mixed, as the Chc/Sel widened to $21.27. Choice boxes were back up 8 cents at $338.45/cwt, with Select 66 cents lower to $317.18. Last week’s Federally inspected cattle slaughter was estimated at 591,000 head. That was 16,000 head below the previous week and down 23,045 head from the same week last year.
Apr 25 Live Cattle closed at $202.625, down $5.425,
Jun 25 Live Cattle closed at $198.200, down $6.500,
Aug 25 Live Cattle closed at $194.700, down $6.475,
Apr 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $279.425, down $5.975,
May 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $274.875, down $8.250,
Aug 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $281.050, down $8.250,
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.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
