Cattle Look to Thursday Following Wednesday Weakness

Live cattle futures closed with losses of 65 cents to $2.10 across the board. Open interest was down 1,386 contracts on Wednesday. Cash trade has picked up in the north this week at $345-350 dressed, steady on the week, with live sales at $218. The Wednesday Fed Cattle Exchange online auction showed no sales on the 1,7000 head offered, with live bids at $218-218.50 and dressed at $340. Feeder cattle futures closed mixed, with front months down 17 cents to $1.37 and deferreds 5 to 25 cents higher. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was back up 4 cents on September 1 to $329.18.

Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were lower in the Wednesday afternoon report, with the Chc/Sel widening to $25.20. Choice boxes were down 97 cents at $378.78, with Select $6.87 lower to $357.64. USDA estimated the Wednesday Federally inspected cattle slaughter at 100,000 head, with the weekly total at 307,000 head. That is now down 3,000 head from the previous week.

Oct 26 Live Cattle  closed at $210.175, down $1.900,

Dec 26 Live Cattle  closed at $212.025, down $1.350,

Feb 27 Live Cattle  closed at $214.000, down $0.925,

Sep 26 Feeder Cattle  closed at $318.975, down $1.375,

Oct 26 Feeder Cattle  closed at $314.375, down $1.025,

Nov 26 Feeder Cattle  closed at $308.350, down $0.175,

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.