Cattle Fall Lower into the Weekend
Live cattle futures resumed some selling into the Friday close, with contracts $2 to $2.30 in the red and October down $6 this week. Cash activity narrowed in at $240 across the country down $2 from last week. Feeder cattle futures closed out Friday falling $4.82 to $7.25 lower in the front months, as September was down $9.42 this week. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was down 40 cents at $363.08 on September 11.
Managed money was busy adding a slight 561 contracts to their large net long position in live cattle futures and options of 131,003 contracts as of Tuesday. Feeder cattle futures and options, spec traders cut back another 2,739 contracts from their net long position to 25,636 contracts
USDA Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were again lower in the Friday PM report, with the Chc/Sel spread at $21.60. Choice boxes were down 75 cents at $400.04, while Select was another $1.51 lower to $378.44. USDA federally inspected cattle slaughter for this week was estimated at 561,000 head. That was 62,990 head lower vs. the same week in 2024.
Oct 25 Live Cattle closed at $229.975, down $2.300,
Dec 25 Live Cattle closed at $231.925, down $2.200,
Feb 26 Live Cattle closed at $233.225, down $2.025,
Sep 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $350.400, down $4.825,
Oct 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $345.800, down $6.550,
Nov 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $343.250, down $7.225,
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.