Today’s Livestock Market Update

DTN Reports:

The cattle futures closed the week with steep losses, but early in the week new record highs were being set. Its possible the market pulls back further but the fundamentals remain supportive with reduced cattle supplies and strong demand. 

LIVE CATTLE:

Traders couldn’t seem to hold it together anymore as the futures complex broke lower  Friday. Most of the nearby live cattle contracts moved $3.00 to $4.00 lower as traders seem to be growing more and more concerned that the futures complex is overbought and that it’s time for a correction. From a sheerly fundamental standpoint, this move is frustrating as this past week boxed beef prices have traded robustly, and the fed cash cattle market has again traded steady to $5.00 higher which is no small feat given that these are historical all-time high price points which we are talking about. Nevertheless, we have to remember that traders won’t have to be concerned about the market’s fundamentals and that logic isn’t always the sounding board for all decisions made. There’s been another thin movement of cattle traded in the North at $242 which is steady with last week’s weighted average. And while some more clean-up trade could develop, it looks like the bulk of this week’s trade is mostly done with. So far this week Southern live cattle have traded at mostly $235, which is $4.00 to $5.00 higher than last week’s weighted average. Northern dressed cattle have traded at mostly $380, which is steady with last week’s weighted average.

MONDAY’S CASH CATTLE: 

Steady. Early week activity is expected to remain at a complete standstill, but the aggressive market support seen through this week is likely to draw additional attention with feeders expected to aggressively price cattle in showlists next week.

FEEDER CATTLE:

The feeder cattle complex didn’t fair any better than the live cattle market, in fact they saw even steeper losses. Feeders have been closely watching the live cattle sector as it’s been following in its shadow here lately. Yes, demand in the countryside is still incredibly strong, but the board doesn’t seem to be concerned with fundamental matters today.