Chicago | Reuters—Chicago Mercantile Exchange live and feeder cattle futures fell on Friday as traders pocketed profits following a nearly month-long rally, analysts said.
Tighter supplies of slaughter-ready cattle as well as wholesalers purchasing beef ahead of Thanksgiving and Christmas have lent support to the cash and futures markets.
“We’ve had a pretty good rally for the last month or so, and this is just profit-taking heading into the weekend,” said Austin Schroeder, analyst at Brugler Marketing.
Analysts have noted packer bids as high as $188 per hundredweight (cwt) in Nebraska and $187 per cwt in the Southern Plains, up about $1 from last week.
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Boxed beef values have continued to rise, with the choice cutout value up $1.27 at $311.22 per cwt though the select cutout value fell $2.01 at $288.72 per cwt, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data.
Meanwhile, positive economic news has continued to flow in, with two of the biggest banks in the U.S. saying U.S. consumers remain resilient with solid spending in the third quarter.
Stronger consumer sentiment and spending can boost beef consumption, as beef is one of the priciest meats. However, the impact of persistent inflation has made industry players wary of being overly optimistic about consumer demand for beef.
CME December live cattle futures LCZ24 settled down 0.700 cent at 187.575 cents per pound. CME November feeder cattle futures FCX24 ended down 0.150 cent at 249.80 cents per pound.
Benchmark CME December lean hog futures LHZ24 ended up 0.700 cents at 77.650 cents per pound as pork carcass values firmed slightly earlier in the day.
