Friday markets
Cattle futures were unable to muster up any support to trade higher into the weekend.
Live cattle futures were lower, down $2.65 on the August contract to $224.42 and down $2.57 on the October contract to $220.70.
Cash trade for the day totaled a little over 2,000 head. Live steers sold from $230-235, and dressed steers sold from $365-370. Total cash trade for the week through the afternoon was about 55,000 head.
“At this point—with the futures market still trading lower and the fed cash cattle market trading significantly lower—there’s very little chance prices improve before Friday’s close,” wrote ShayLe Stewart, DTN livestock analyst, in her midday comments.
Slaughter for the day totaled about 89,000 head. With tomorrow’s slaughter expected at 3,000 head, total slaughter for the week is projected at 525,000 head, compared to 529,000 head a week earlier.
Boxed beef prices closed lower on 111 loads. The Choice cutout lost $1.57 to close at $366.81, and the Select cutout lost 40 cents to close at $355.29.
Feeder cattle
Feeder cattle futures were lower, down 65 cents on the August contract to $345.95 and down $1 on the September contract to $339.35.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index lost $3.55 to close at $365.52.
Corn futures were higher, up 3 cents apiece on the September and December contracts to close at $4.44 and $4.67, respectively. — Anna Miller Fortozo, WLJ managing editor
