Live cattle futures were down 12 to 72 cents at Thursday’s close, with some deferreds higher. Cash trade has seen a few cattle exchange hands at $232 so far this week on thin volume. The Wednesday Fed Cattle Exchange online auction showed no sales on the 1,228 head, with bids of $230-230.50. Feeder cattle futures were down 50 cents in nearby January, with most other contracts facing weakness. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was down $2.18 to $365.23 on January 21.
The monthly Cattle on Feed report will be out on Friday afternoon, with traders looking for December placements down 6.5% and marketing up 1.5% yr/yr. January 1 on feed inventory is seen down 3.2%.
USDA’s wholesale Boxed Beef report from Thursday afternoon were mixed, with the Chc/Sel spread widening to $5.72. Choice boxes were up $1.34 to $365.89, while Select was 72 cents lower at $361.73. Thursday’s USDA federally inspected cattle slaughter was estimated at 114,000 head, with the weekly total at 447,000. That was 32,000 head below last week and 33,988 head shy of the same week last year.
Feb 26 Live Cattle closed at $232.375, down $0.725,
Apr 26 Live Cattle closed at $234.825, down $0.125,
Jun 26 Live Cattle closed at $230.900, up $0.025,
Jan 26 Feeder Cattle closed at $363.725, up $0.500,
Mar 26 Feeder Cattle closed at $359.275, down $0.100,
Apr 26 Feeder Cattle closed at $357.950, down $0.175,
