Cattle Shift Focus to Thursday Trade
Live cattle futures settled the Wednesday session with 35 to 75 cent gains. Cash trade has been slower this week, with last week’s trade mainly $202-203 in the South and $203 in the North. Wednesday morning’s Central Stockyards online Fed Cattle Exchange auction showed no sales on 994 head, with bids at $199-202.50. Feeder cattle futures were back lower on Wednesday down 27 to 70 cents. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was up another 52 cents on February 18 at $278.51.
USDA’s National Wholesale Boxed Beef report was mixed in the Wednesday afternoon report, as the Chc/Sel spread was tighter at $10.13. Choice boxes were $1.88 lower at $313.89/cwt, with Select 5 cents high to $303.76. Wednesday’s Federally inspected cattle slaughter was estimated at 117,000 head, with the weekly total at 330,000 head. That is down 7,000 head from the previous week and 15,663 head below the same week last year.
Feb 25 Live Cattle closed at $197.825, up $0.375,
Apr 25 Live Cattle closed at $194.775, up $0.750,
Jun 25 Live Cattle closed at $190.925, up $0.525,
Mar 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $269.025, down $0.700,
Apr 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $268.600, down $0.500,
May 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $267.050, down $0.275,
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.