Live cattle futures are 75 to 85 cents in the green so far on Monday. Cash trade was light last week with a few early $234-235 sales. A few late sales were reported at $238 in the south. Feeder cattle futures are up $1.35 to $1.85 so far on Monday. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was back down 26 cents to $362.98 on March 26. The Monday OKC feeder cattle auction has an estimated 8,000 head for sale, with a higher undertone noted early.
CFTC data indicated large managed money speculators at a net long of 110,909 contracts in live cattle futures and options, a 4,294 contract increase over the week ending on 3/24, mainly via new longs. In feeder cattle, specs were a net long of 17,810 contracts, a 123 contract increase on the week ending on Tuesday.
