After taking money off the table earlier in the week, live cattle futures saw some pre-report bullish bets on Friday. Futures settled 30 to 82 cents higher. Feeder cattle futures also got a triple digit lift, up $1.00 to $1.40. Cash trade earlier this week had some exchanging hands in the South at $178-179, down $1 on the week. Northern action has been in a range of $185-188, steady to $2 lower. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was down 22 cents on August 17 to $244.22.
This afternoon’s Cattle on Feed report was expected by traders to show July placements down an average 5.5% from last year. Marketings during the month were seen 5.2% lower. Trade ideas for the August 1 on feed inventory averaged 98.4% of year ago. USDA indicated that actual August 1 inventory in 1000+ head feedlots was 97.11% of year ago. Placements during July were much lower than anticipated at 91.72% of last year. July marketings were 94.68% (-5.32%) and close to the average trade estimate.
Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were higher in the Friday PM report. Choice boxes were up $1.97 to $316.11, with Select $2.10 higher to $288.36. USDA estimated Friday FI cattle slaughter at 118,000 head, bringing the week-to-date total to 607,000 head. A planned Saturday kill would put us at 616,000 for the week, up 13,000 from last week but down 48,000 from the same week a year ago.
Aug 23 Cattle closed at $178.525, up $0.475,
Oct 23 Cattle closed at $178.825, up $0.500,
Dec 23 Cattle closed at $183.175, up $0.650,
Aug 23 Feeder Cattle closed at $245.575, up $1.300
Sep 23 Feeder Cattle closed at $248.525, up $1.400
On the date of publication, Alan Brugler 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.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
