Cattle Revert to Lower Trade on Wednesday
Live cattle futures ended the midweek session with contracts down 10 to 75 cents. This morning’s Fed Cattle Exchange online auction from Central Stockyards showed sales on one lot of the 1,322 head listed at 191 using the BidTheGrid™ method. Bids ranged from $185-188 live. Outside of that, a few bids in the North have been reported at $190.
Feeder cattle posted losses of $1.40 to $2.35 to lead the way lower on Wednesday. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was back up $2.25 from the day prior at $259.38 on December 2.
USDA wholesale Boxed Beef prices were mixed in the Wednesday PM report. Choice boxes were down $2.50 to $308.33/cwt, with Select $2.37 higher @ $277.70. The Chc/Sel spread narrowed to $30.63. USDA estimated the Wednesday federally inspected cattle slaughter at 125,000, bringing the week to date total to 367,000 head. That was down 3,000 head from last week and 10,631 head below the same week last year.
Dec 24 Live Cattle closed at $188.375, down $0.100,
Feb 25 Live Cattle closed at $188.325, down $0.750,
Apr 25 Live Cattle closed at $190.500, down $0.650,
Jan 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $256.950, down $2.350,
Mar 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $255.700, down $1.575,
Apr 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $256.700, down $1.425,
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.