Cattle Futures - Most Live Cattle End Firm; Hogs Surge
US - Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures settledmostly firm on June/August bear and August/October bull positioning. That,along with concern over cash and beef cutout direction, pressured spot-June andslowed October's advances. Remaining live cattle contracts were supported byChicago Board of Trade corn's relapse after Monday's rally.And, lean hogs and pork bellies registered significant gains.
Live cattle spiked at the start, driven by CBOT corn's overnight retreat, short covering and pit-bulls pricing in a possible $91 per hundredweightlive-basis fed cattle trade this week.
However, June and August eased from opening highs after tackling technicalresistance obstacles, and June lacked leadership from beef cutouts thatremained mixed around midday, according to the federal government's boxed beefitem.
Nonetheless, June later garnered buying interest around the 90.25-cent pricelevel. And, prospective cattle market longs were enamored with August'sslightly oversold Relative Strength Index chart condition.
Fed cattle packer buyers and owners are not showing their hands with respectto early-week bids and asking prices. In the interim, some in the pit aremonitoring beef cutout's progress, and using it as a possible barometer forthis week's cash trade.
Source: FXSTREET