17 January 2025
2 minute learn
Chicago Mercantile Change (CME) reside cattle futures closed decrease on Thursday as a result of profit-taking, because the most-active contracts did not surpass final week’s long-term highs, whereas grains, crude oil and Wall Avenue equities additionally declined, Reuters reported, citing analysts.
February reside cattle futures settled 1.925 cents decrease at 196.600 cents per pound and April reside cattle fell 1.650 cents to finish at 197.675 cents.
CME March feeder cattle ended down 2.075 cents at 267.725 cents a pound.
Speculators have been aggressive consumers of reside cattle futures since September. Managed funds stretched their web lengthy place in CME reside cattle futures to 144,486 contracts within the newest week, the biggest in practically six years, weekly commitments knowledge from the US Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee confirmed.
The large web lengthy leaves the market weak to bouts of lengthy liquidation on days when supportive information is missing. Some market gamers can also be heading to the sidelines forward of the incoming administration of US President-elect Donald Trump.
“The funds are fairly closely lengthy and they’re considerably over-bought,” stated Doug Houghton, analyst at Brock Associates.
“How a lot of that is positioning earlier than the lengthy weekend and the presidential inauguration, the uncertainty about commerce points – it is arduous to say,” Houghton stated.
Regardless of Thursday’s pullback, provide and demand fundamentals stay supportive for cattle. Drought in recent times slashed the nation’s herd to its smallest dimension in many years, an element that has buoyed money cattle and wholesale beef costs.
“Till there are indicators that the money scenario modifications … it is arduous to see an enormous draw back for futures,” Houghton stated.
The US Division of Agriculture’s (USDA) boxed-beef index for alternative cuts eased from a 19-month excessive set on Wednesday. The USDA priced alternative cuts of beef on Thursday afternoon at $333.41 per hundredweight (cwt), down 73 cents from Wednesday’s 19-month peak of $334.14.
CME lean hog futures additionally declined on Thursday after the April contract did not match Wednesday’s one-month excessive. April hogs settled down 0.475 cent at 90.550 cents per pound and front-month February hogs ended down 0.825 cent at 82.300 cents per pound.
The USDA priced pork carcasses at $90.39 per cwt on Thursday afternoon, down 44 cents from the earlier session.
