Cattle Futures - Cattle Weaker
US - Live and feeder cattle futures settled mostly lower Friday with feeder cattle getting hit with higher corn futures prices at the Chicago Board of Trade. Live cattle were saddled with weaker feeder cattle and uncertainty about how fed cattle will trade in the southern Plains.As of midday Friday, Nebraska was the only Plains state claiming cattle sales. Feeders there moved cattle at $140 per hundredweight on a dressed basis earlier in the week and at $91 on a live basis. As of Friday, dressed prices had moved up to $142, but this only brought prices up to last week's levels.
Cattle elsewhere had not traded as of the close of futures markets, and the uncertainty, combined with the soft feel of Nebraska's markets left futures traders a little cold, brokers said.
Technically, live cattle futures were pressured as traders took long profits after four sessions of higher prices, brokers said.
One broker said Friday morning's USDA crop production report was considered bullish to corn futures and removed hope that cattle feeders might see more of a break on feed prices. Large export sales also added to the push in corn futures and the resulting pressure on feeder cattle, he said.
Source: FXSTREET