Cash fed cattle trade ended the week primarily steady with the previous week on a live basis at $108/cwt.—$1 lower in Nebraska. Dressed trade was steady to $2 higher at $172.
In the futures market, position squaring for the end of the month and quarter seemed to be the chief order of business on Friday.
Live Cattle futures closed unchanged to marginally higher across the front half of the board and then an average of 53¢ lower.
Feeder Cattle futures closed 85¢ lower (62¢ to $1.05 lower) counting newly minted away Sep.
Choice boxed beef cutout value was 21¢ higher Friday afternoon at $196.62/cwt. Select was 61¢ lower at $188.50.
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Major U.S. financial indices closed higher on Friday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 23 points higher. The S&P 500 closed 9 points higher. The NASDAQ closed 42 points higher.
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“There remain a large number of cattle on feed, but timely marketing the past 12 months has kept cattle current and the risk of a wall of cattle pushed to the sidelines,” says Andrew P. Griffith, agricultural economist at the University of Tennessee, in his weekly market comments. “Cattle feeders have continued to purchase feeder cattle aggressively with the expectation of prices improving moving forward.”
Although calves face seasonal price pressure the next couple of months, Griffith explains strong stocker demand and Feeder Cattle futures remain supportive.