Beef futures dipped at the start due to profit-taking after Friday's runup and prospective buyers who clung to the sidelines awaiting concise market direction.

Spreading was the most dominant play of the session that included December/February bull and February/April bear positioning. Those spreads lifted December and April but capped February's advances.

However, live cattle contracts inched upward due to break-buyers' attraction to December and February's oversold chart situations. Friday's boxed-beef price jump, and no deliveries posted by the exchange, emboldened cattle market longs.

By the same token, the disappointing number of animals that actually exchanged hands last week and trepidation until projections for Friday's federal government cattle report are released at times prompted selling into rallies.

Source: FXSTREET