Cattle split the week this week, trading with gains to start and end the week Thursday while posting gains in the middle session. Just like in the grains, tariff concerns were the main driving factor in the cattle this week with a bit of influence coming from the direction of the major indexes.
Cattle opened the seek posting losses with early selling tied to tariff talk. Trump confirmed that on midnight Tuesday morning 25% tariffs were being placed on Mexico and Canada whole another 10% was being placed on Chins. China immediately responded with retaliatory tariffs of their own, which included beef. Losses were kept in check by tight supplies and availability concerns. Additional pressure was due to technical selling and concerns that packers and consumers are starting to push beef away from the table.
Strong gains came to the live cattle market on Tuesday while feeder cattle struggled. Live cattle opened lower but managed to brush off early selling pressure and end the session with triple digit gains. Feeder cattle followed the trend set by the live cattle and opened lower but slowly trimmed their losses throughout the session and closed with small losses in the front month but with small gains in the deferred months. Early selling was tied to tariff concerns. But cattle started to stage a recovery once traders thought about it and realized that tariffs will likely result in tighter supplies of cattle. Gains were kept in check by last week’s sloppy cash trade and the lack of a cash trade this week.
Heavy buying continued to dominate the cattle markets midweek. Live cattle saw small gains for the first part of the session by accelerated the gains late in the session to close with solid gains. Feeder cattle slowly climbed higher throughout the session and closed with strong gains. Spillover support came from the higher Dow (up over 500 points).
Cattle closed out the week Thursday ending mixed. Live cattle closed steady to slightly lower while feeder cattle took another hit. Part of the past two session strategy was to tighten up the spread between live cattle and feeder cattle as there has been no incentive to finish cattle. Tariff concerns, technical selling, and profit taking all added pressure. The lack of a cash trade added selling pressure to the live cattle. Feeder cattle were pressured by a stronger grain complex.
For the week, April live cattle were at $200.275 up $7.625. March feeder cattle were at $276.975 up $2.00.
Cattle Weekly Comments March 7
Cattle Weekly Comments March 7
Cattle split the week this week, trading with gains to start and end the week Thursday while posting gains in the middle session. Just like in the grains, tariff concerns were the main driving factor in the cattle this week with a bit of influence coming from the direction of the major indexes.
Cattle opened the seek posting losses with early selling tied to tariff talk. Trump confirmed that on midnight Tuesday morning 25% tariffs were being placed on Mexico and Canada whole another 10% was being placed on Chins. China immediately responded with retaliatory tariffs of their own, which included beef. Losses were kept in check by tight supplies and availability concerns. Additional pressure was due to technical selling and concerns that packers and consumers are starting to push beef away from the table.
Strong gains came to the live cattle market on Tuesday while feeder cattle struggled. Live cattle opened lower but managed to brush off early selling pressure and end the session with triple digit gains. Feeder cattle followed the trend set by the live cattle and opened lower but slowly trimmed their losses throughout the session and closed with small losses in the front month but with small gains in the deferred months. Early selling was tied to tariff concerns. But cattle started to stage a recovery once traders thought about it and realized that tariffs will likely result in tighter supplies of cattle. Gains were kept in check by last week’s sloppy cash trade and the lack of a cash trade this week.
Heavy buying continued to dominate the cattle markets midweek. Live cattle saw small gains for the first part of the session by accelerated the gains late in the session to close with solid gains. Feeder cattle slowly climbed higher throughout the session and closed with strong gains. Spillover support came from the higher Dow (up over 500 points).
Cattle closed out the week Thursday ending mixed. Live cattle closed steady to slightly lower while feeder cattle took another hit. Part of the past two session strategy was to tighten up the spread between live cattle and feeder cattle as there has been no incentive to finish cattle. Tariff concerns, technical selling, and profit taking all added pressure. The lack of a cash trade added selling pressure to the live cattle. Feeder cattle were pressured by a stronger grain complex.
For the week, April live cattle were at $200.275 up $7.625. March feeder cattle were at $276.975 up $2.00.