CHICAGO, March 21 (Reuters) – Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures fell back on Friday on a technical dip after multiple days of rallies sent most contracts to lifetime highs during the week.
CME June live cattle ended down 2.250 cents at 202.775 cents per pound, but still reached lifetime highs for a third day in a row.
CME April feeder cattle settled down 3.475 cents at 284.975 cents per pound, having earlier reached life of contract highs for a fourth day in a row.
“Cattle futures really started to get overbought, and it really overextended to the upside,” said Karl Setzer, partner at Consus Ag Consulting.
High winds and blizzard conditions in Kansas and Nebraska led to road closures earlier in the week, including Interstate 80 in Nebraska, which slowed down movement of cattle to slaughter, analysts said.
Concerns over consumer demand also weighed on the cattle markets, said Setzer, as markets assessed statements by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell earlier in the week that the initial policies of president Donald Trump, including extensive import tariffs, appear to have tilted the U.S. economy toward slower growth and at least temporarily higher inflation.
In wholesale values, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported choice cuts of boxed beef fell $2.61 to $325.45 per hundredweight (cwt) on Friday afternoon, and select cuts rose $0.26 to $309.62.
Traders were also awaiting the release of the USDA’s monthly cattle on feed report, which was released after the close of trading.
The USDA report showed that, in February, the number of cattle on U.S. feed lots was down 18% compared with last year.
The average trade estimate according to a Reuters poll of analysts was that it would be down 14%.
Meanwhile, CME’s April lean hog contract rose on a technical bounce, according to Setzer, after falling for three days in a row.
It settled up 0.575 cent at 86.125 cents per pound.
(Reporting by Renee Hickman; Editing by Alan Barona)
