Through Friday afternoon, cash fed cattle was shaping up to be another final-hour affair. The surprising break in futures prices the previous day likely had both packers and feeders trying to assess leverage. Depending on how you slid the beads and who was working the abacus, odds still favored cattle feeders.
According to the Texas Cattle Feeders Association late in the day, members traded steers and heifers for $127/cwt., which was $4 more than the previous week’s country trade.
Cattle futures roared back on Friday, regaining the majority of losses from the previous session. That was ahead of the monthly Cattle on Feed report, which came in with more placements than many analysts expected but far from the double-digit hikes in recent months (see below).
Live Cattle futures closed an average of $1.74 higher ($1.15 to $2.12 higher in spot Feb).
Feeder Cattle futures closed an average of $2.50 higher, except for 60¢ lower in newly minted away Jan.
Choice boxed beef cutout value was 6¢ higher on Friday afternoon at $206.83/cwt. Select was 51¢ higher at $201.83.
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