Live cattle futures added another 72 cents to $1.25 to the upside across the front months on Friday. That pushed the Feb contract to a $4.07 gain for the week and completed the 5th straight weekly green candle. Weekly cattle also held over their 18-wk moving average and the 38.2% retracement from the Oct-Dec pullback. Feeder cattle had rallied through their 50% retracement of the same move, ending Friday up by $1.52 and the week up by $1.92. Cash sales for Thursday were confirmed $1.50 stronger to near $175 in the South. USDA had sales from $173 to $177 for the week with the bulk of action near $175. The 1/25 CME Feeder Cattle Index was $232.06, up by $1.38.
Commitment of Traders data showed live cattle spec traders were 4,174 contracts more net long for the week that ended 1/23 after short covering. That left the group 17,167 contracts net long at the 1/23 settle. Feeder cattle specs were also closing existing shorts during the week and had flipped back to a 1,600 contract net long.
Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were reported at $300.53 for Choice and $289.13 for Select. That was a $1.85 and a $1.28 increase respectively from the day prior. USDA’s beef output for the week was shown at 522.5m lbs, which was down by 0.3% from last week on a 0.2% increased slaughter. Slaughter was shown at 618k head, for a yearly total of 2.322 million head.
Feb 24 Cattle closed at $178.450, up $0.725,
Apr 24 Cattle closed at $181.675, up $0.975,
Jun 24 Cattle closed at $178.850, up $1.250,
Mar 24 Feeder Cattle closed at $239.700, up $1.525
Apr 24 Feeder Cattle closed at $245.600, up $1.675
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 Disclosure Policy here.
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