Cattle Resuming Trade on Monday with Mixed Action
Live cattle futures are mixed on Monday, with August up 35 cents and other contracts steady to 30 cents lower. Due to the limit losses in the feeders on Friday, live cattle have expanded limits of $10.75 today. Cash trade was light last week with $245 northern action reported, steady to $2 lower wk/wk. The South was listed at $235, steady.
Feeder cattle futures are showing more steady trade on Monday, with contracts 55 to 70 cents weaker. Limits will be expanded to $13.75 on Monday. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was up another 24 cents to $337.21 on August 7. The Monday OKC feeder cattle auction has an estimated 5,600 head for sale, with early action noted as firm.
CFTC data showed a total of 2,944 contracts were trimmed from the spec fund net long in live cattle futures and options as of August 5, with the position at 125,565 contracts. In feeder cattle futures and options managed money was net long 37,079 contracts on Tuesday, an increase of 1,953 contracts on the week.
USDA Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were higher in the Monday morning report, with the Chc/Sel spread at $23.03. Choice boxes were up 51 cents at $379.35, while Select was $1.23 higher to $356.32. USDA estimated cattle slaughter for last week was 536,000 head. That was up just 1,000 head from last week but 51,582 head lower vs. the same week in 2024.
Aug 25 Live Cattle are at $232.900, up $0.350,
Oct 25 Live Cattle are at $225.675, down $0.300,
Dec 25 Live Cattle are at $227.825, down $0.100,
Aug 25 Feeder Cattle are at $339.400, unch
Sep 25 Feeder Cattle are at $339.675, down $0.700
Oct 25 Feeder Cattle are at $338.650, down $0.575
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.