Friday markets
There’s only one word to describe the cattle markets today: red—and unfortunately, it’s not in the context of red hot. It was not an optimistic way to round out the week, with futures plummeting on the board and hitting limit down for some contracts.
“Earlier throughout the week, the live cattle complex was robustly supported by traders, and the market even managed to close at a new all-time high position Thursday afternoon,” wrote ShayLe Stewart, DTN livestock analyst, in her closing comments. “But on Friday, all the bullishness was sucked out of the futures complex.”
Live cattle futures nosedived, down $6.20 on the August contract to $232.55 and down $6.25 on the October contract to $225.97.
“Friday’s demise was likely caused by massive profit-taking as traders saw the record-high position scored Thursday afternoon and most likely elected to sell their positions on Friday to ‘be on the safe side,’” Stewart said.
She continued: “What happened throughout Friday’s trade is now done, and the next real question becomes: What’s next? Could Thursday’s record high close have been the high score for this bullish fundamental run? Or will the market regain its focus in the days/weeks to come and again trade higher? As always, time will tell, but demand will have a big influence on how things pan out.”
Cash trade for the day totaled about 20,000 head. Live steers averaged $241.62, and dressed steers averaged $380.59. Total cash trade through the week was about 25,000 head.
Slaughter for the day is estimated at 88,000 head, compared to 93,000 head a week earlier. With tomorrow’s slaughter projected at just 1,000 head, total slaughter for the week is expected at 536,000 head, compared to 535,000 head a week earlier.
Boxed beef prices were mixed on 103 loads. The Choice cutout lost 10 cents to close at $378.84, and the Select cutout gained $1.34 to close at $355.09.
Feeder cattle
Feeder cattle futures had a worse day, closing limit down (-$9.25) on each contract. The August contract closed at $339.50, and the September contract closed at $340.37.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index gained 76 cents to close at $336.97.
“Although the CME Feeder Cattle Index continues to climb higher and higher, showing evidence of continued buyer support, the futures market tanked as traders elected to participate in some profit taking, which left the contracts no other option but to close sharply lower,” Stewart said.
Corn futures were a hair lower, down a penny each on the September and December contracts, closing at $3.82 and $4.05, respectively. — Anna Miller Fortozo, WLJ managing editor
