Cattle started the holiday shortened week posting gains but then faded lower in the next two sessions. Early support came from December’s bullish COF report. Selling was tied to technical pressure and spill over selling from a negative Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report. Losses were kept in check by a friendly Corl Storage estimate. Thin light trading was evident as most traders evened up position early and headed to grandma’s house for the holidays.
Friday’s bullish COF report spilled over to support cattle on Monday. Cattle opened the session firm while feeder cattle gapped higher on the opening bell. Early support came from Friday’s bullish COF report, which showed smaller than expected placements and smaller marketings than expected. In fact, the placements and marketing estimate was the lowest for the month of Nov since the series began. Gains were trimmed by midsession with live cattle seeing pressure from a disappointing cash trade last week. Feeder saw gains trimmed by pressure from the higher grains. For the week of Dec 4 beef exports were estimated at 11,403 MT.
The gains were short lived through as selling moved back into the cattle markets on Tuesday. Live cattle opened the session steady to lower while feeder cattle opened the session steady to higher. It did not take long for both contracts to lose their gain and trade lower. Profit taking and position squaring ahead of the holidays was the main driver in the meats. Technical selling was also evident as both contracts test resistance. Losses were kept in check by a firm cash trade which took place at $229, $1 above last week. A sloppy grain complex helped limit losses in feeder cattle.
Cattle traded with small losses to end the short week on Wednesday. Support came from USDA’s Cold Storage report, which showed beef stocks for Nov up 3% from the month but down 3% year over year. Gains were kept in check by USDA’s negative Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report, which showed a lot more hogs out there than expected. Profit taking and the evening up of positions added direction as traders look to go to the sidelines ahead of the holidays. The CME cash feeder cattle index was up $1.32 at $354.40.
For the week, Dec live cattle closed at $229.825 down 57.5 cents. Jan feeder cattle closed at $346.175 up 57.5 cents.
Cattle Weekly Comments December 26
Cattle Weekly Comments December 26
Cattle started the holiday shortened week posting gains but then faded lower in the next two sessions. Early support came from December’s bullish COF report. Selling was tied to technical pressure and spill over selling from a negative Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report. Losses were kept in check by a friendly Corl Storage estimate. Thin light trading was evident as most traders evened up position early and headed to grandma’s house for the holidays.
Friday’s bullish COF report spilled over to support cattle on Monday. Cattle opened the session firm while feeder cattle gapped higher on the opening bell. Early support came from Friday’s bullish COF report, which showed smaller than expected placements and smaller marketings than expected. In fact, the placements and marketing estimate was the lowest for the month of Nov since the series began. Gains were trimmed by midsession with live cattle seeing pressure from a disappointing cash trade last week. Feeder saw gains trimmed by pressure from the higher grains. For the week of Dec 4 beef exports were estimated at 11,403 MT.
The gains were short lived through as selling moved back into the cattle markets on Tuesday. Live cattle opened the session steady to lower while feeder cattle opened the session steady to higher. It did not take long for both contracts to lose their gain and trade lower. Profit taking and position squaring ahead of the holidays was the main driver in the meats. Technical selling was also evident as both contracts test resistance. Losses were kept in check by a firm cash trade which took place at $229, $1 above last week. A sloppy grain complex helped limit losses in feeder cattle.
Cattle traded with small losses to end the short week on Wednesday. Support came from USDA’s Cold Storage report, which showed beef stocks for Nov up 3% from the month but down 3% year over year. Gains were kept in check by USDA’s negative Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report, which showed a lot more hogs out there than expected. Profit taking and the evening up of positions added direction as traders look to go to the sidelines ahead of the holidays. The CME cash feeder cattle index was up $1.32 at $354.40.
For the week, Dec live cattle closed at $229.825 down 57.5 cents. Jan feeder cattle closed at $346.175 up 57.5 cents.