Cattle futures edged marginally higher on Tuesday, able to hold on to the previous day’s strong gains, after early pressure and amid light trade.
Except for 2¢ lower in spot Jun, Live Cattle futures closed an average of 20¢ higher.
Feeder Cattle futures closed an average of 10¢ higher.
Wholesale beef values continued to unwind Tuesday.
Choice boxed beef cutout value was $1.47 lower in the afternoon at $229.35/cwt. Select was $1.66 lower at $205.86. Demand was light to moderate on moderate offerings.
Select and Choice rib, chuck, round, and loin cuts sold steady to weak, according to the Agricultural marketing Service. Beef trimmings sold sharply higher on moderate to good demand and moderate offerings.
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Major U.S. financial indices gave back a majority of the previous day’s gains on Tuesday, reportedly on President Trump commenting that he’s dissatisfied with Chinese trade talks thus far. Of course, it was the weekend joint statement from the two nations—placing new tariffs on hold—that boosted stocks on Monday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 178 points lower. The S&P 500 closed 8 points lower. The NASDAQ closed 15 points lower.
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Total pounds of beef in freezers edged up last month, according to the monthly Cold Storage report released yesterday.
As of Apr. 30, there were 471.5 million lbs. of beef in freezers, which was 1.6% more than the previous month and 2.9% more than the previous year.
Frozen pork supplies were 5.0% more than the previous month and 8.7% more than the same time a year ago.
Total red meat supplies in cold storage were 3.9% more than the previous month and 6.8% more than the previous year.
Frozen poultry supplies were 1.9% more than the previous month and 7.2% more than the previous year.