It was a wild rallying day for the cattle complex as both the live cattle and feeder cattle markets stormed higher, as traders seem to be recognizing that fed cattle supplies in the first months of 2026 are going to be thin. Still no cash cattle trade has developed, but it's assumed that prices will be higher this week. March corn is up 5 cents per bushel and January soybean meal is down $3.00. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 276.75 points and the NASDAQ is up 162.81 points.
LIVE CATTLE:It was a crazy day for the live cattle complex as the market shot higher, rallying mostly $4.00 higher in all the live cattle contracts. Pinpointing the exact reason why the contracts rallied so aggressively is difficult, given that no wildly bullish news broke today, and no "wild" advancements were seen in the market's immediate fundamentals. But as the industry begins to look at 2026, and let's all remember that the futures complex is very anticipatory, it seems that collectively the market is recognizing that fed cattle supplies are going to be tight in the first few months of 2026. That's not to say the market won't face challenges during that time, as who knows when the border will reopen, but thankfully, the bullish token remains favorable to producers, as supplies will be thin in the first half of 2026. December live cattle closed $4.27 higher at $218.47, February live cattle closed $4.87 higher at $220.80 and April live cattle closed $4.87 higher at $222.42. No cash cattle trade developed throughout the day, but asking prices are noted at $225 in Texas.
Tuesday's slaughter is estimated at 122,000 head, 3,000 head less than a week ago and 4,000 head less than a year ago.
Boxed beef prices closed lower: choice down $4.17 ($364.72) and select down $7.10 ($350.78) with a movement of 115 loads (79.50 loads of choice, 13.63 loads of select, 6.91 loads of trim and 15.00 loads of ground beef).
WEDNESDAY'S CATTLE CALL: Higher. It's assumed that this week's fed cash cattle trade will be higher as packers recognize that supplies are going to be thin moving through the remainder of the year and well into 2026.
FEEDER CATTLE:It was a robust rallying day for the feeder cattle complex as the market saw the live cattle contracts trading higher and gladly took that opportunity as a chance to drive the feeder cattle contracts sharply higher. January feeders closed $8.80 higher at $329.87, March feeders closed $8.40 higher at $323.92 and April feeders closed $8.45 higher at $323.30. The market still has some room to trade higher before the complex will run into resistance pressure at the market's 100-day moving average – which will likely be a rough threshold for traders to conquer and require unwavering support. Oklahoma National Stockyards in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, compared to last week, feeder steers traded $8.00 to $15.00 higher and feeder heifers sold $15.00 to $25.00 stronger. Steer and heifer calves sold $20.00 to $30.00 higher, with instances of $40.00 higher. Feeder cattle supply over 600 pounds was 55%. The CME feeder cattle index 12/1/2025: up $12.66, $332.36.
LEAN HOGS:The lean hog complex closed lower as the market wasn't confident that there was enough support in the marketplace to justify trading the contracts higher. The market's fundamentals throughout the day were mixed, as pork cutout values dipped lower and cash prices were lower too, but the cash market did see an increase in today's volume traded. December lean hogs closed $0.27 higher at $80.50, February lean hogs closed $0.12 lower at $80.17 and April lean hogs closed $0.45 lower at $83.82. Hog prices closed lower on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report, down $0.35 with a weighted average price of $71.33 on 7,744 head. Pork cutouts totaled 338.03 loads with 288.72 loads of pork cuts and 49.31 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $0.57, $94.22. Tuesday's slaughter is estimated at 489,000 head, 3,000 head less than a week ago and 5,000 head less than a year ago. The CME lean hog index 11/28/2025: down $0.25, $81.67.
WEDNESDAY'S HOG CALL: Steady. Packers will need to still secure more volume ahead of the week's end, but prices may not necessarily trade higher.
No comments:
Post a Comment