Cattle Leading with Triple Digit Gains
Live cattle are trading the Thursday session with $1 to $1.20 gains across most contracts at midday. Cash action has been quiet this week. The Central Stockyards Fed Cattle Exchange saw no bids or sales on the 1,352 head listed this morning, with asks in the $185-186 range. Very light $184 trade was picked up in KS on Wednesday. Feeders are up $1.45 to $2 on the day. The CME Feeder Cattle index was up 4 cents on May 14 to $241.79.
Weekly Export Sales data showed 15,132 MT of beef sold in the week ending on May 9, up 22.66% from the previous week. Shipments were tallied at a total of 15,589 MT in that week, a wk/wk decline of 4.01%.
USDA’s Wholesale Boxed Beef prices continued to shoot higher in the Thursday morning report. Choice boxes were up another $2.74 at $309.51, with Select $3.09 higher to $297.40. That raised the Chc/Sel spread to $12.11. USDA estimated federally inspected cattle slaughter at 124,000 head for Wednesday, taking the weekly total to 363,000. That is down 4,000 head from last week and 15,165 head below the same week last year.
Jun 24 Live Cattle are at $179.350, up $1.100,
Aug 24 Live Cattle are at $177.725, up $1.200,
Oct 24 Live Cattle are at $180.825, up $1.125,
May 24 Feeder Cattle are at $244.950, up $1.800
Aug 24 Feeder Cattle are at $257.850, up $1.975
Sep 24 Feeder Cattle are at $258.925, up $1.975
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 Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
