Packers and feeders drew the line between bids and asking prices deeper in the sand yesterday, with cash fed cattle trade yet to develop through late in the afternoon. Perhaps packers were eyeing stagnant wholesale beef values and hoping for bearish news in Friday afternoon’s monthly Cattle on Feed report (see below). On the other side, it could be feedlots sensing a seasonal bottom at hand with spot Live Cattle futures moving toward the away months this week rather than the other way around.
Cattle futures closed mostly narrowly mixed on Thursday, other than some apparent defensiveness and positioning in nearby contracts for the aforementioned reasons.
Except for 85¢ lower in spot Oct and 5¢ lower in Dec, Live Cattle futures closed 7¢ to 40¢ higher.
Feeder Cattle futures closed an average of 98¢ lower through the front three contracts and then 2¢ to 7¢ lower, except for 10¢ higher in Jan and 42¢ lower at the very back.
Choice boxed beef cutout value was 53¢ lower Thursday afternoon at $191.51/cwt. Select was 11¢ lower at $188.41.
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