Friday markets
Cattle futures regained their earlier losses and closed higher going into the weekend.
Live cattle futures closed higher, up $1.05 to $212.22 on the June contract and up 90 cents to $206.75 on the August contract.
“Bull-spreaders are hopeful that today’s higher close means that traders feel that the market is no longer overbought and could potentially trade the complex higher again next week,” wrote ShayLe Stewart, DTN livestock analyst, in her closing comments.
There was about 9,000 head of cash trade sold through the afternoon. Live steers sold from $225-229, and dressed steers sold from $354-358. Total cash trade for the week through the afternoon totaled about 75,000 head.
Slaughter for the day is estimated at 105,000 head. With tomorrow’s slaughter expected at 2,000 head, total slaughter for the week is projected at 566,000 head, compared to 559,000 head a week earlier.
Boxed beef prices were higher on 101 loads. The Choice cutout gained $2.59 to close at $352.59, and the Select cutout gained $3.21 to $342.39.
Feeder cattle
Feeder cattle futures also sold higher. The May contract gained 67 cents to close at $296.85, and the August contract gained $1.77 to close at $297.60.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index lost 24 cents to close at $302.17.
“It’s likely next week traders again will rely heavily on the support of the live cattle complex in terms of which direction the feeder cattle contracts are going to trade, as there’s a level of cautiousness that comes at these historical levels,” Stewart said.
Corn futures were lower, down 5 cents to $4.43 on the July contract and down 3 cents to $4.21 on the September contract. — Anna Miller, WLJ managing editor
