Cattle Futures: Live Cattle Gain On Short Covering Corn
CHICAGO - Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures posted a higher settlement Monday on short covering after last week's steep losses, weaker Chicago Board of Trade corn contracts and periodic fund buying.
20 March 2007
1 minute read
Floor optimism materialized after last week's steady to higher cash sales. And June flourished amid April/June bear and June/August bull spreading.
Nevertheless, sporadic selling into up-ticks, boxed beef's recent lapse and technical pressure at times stymied futures' upward mobility.
Spot-April closed 70 points higher at 97.80 cents a pound, near a session high and under 98.09-cent 20-day moving-average resistance.
Most-active traded June finished 57 points higher at 94.85 cents, above the middle of the range and beneath the 95.69-cent 20-day moving average.
CME cattle market participants had a measured response to word that after futures closed on Friday, some live-basis cattle in parts of the Midwest for the week fetched $100 per hundredweight. However, the bulk of sales last week were in area of $98.
April's movement on Monday was more consistent with speculation about cattle this week moving at around $98. "The board had already priced in $100 cattle that was fueled by the jump in boxed beef prices, which is no longer the case," a cattle broker said.
