CME update: live cattle futures tumble 2.5% on long liquidation
US live cattle futures fell 2.5% on 13 May, following broad declines in grain and livestock markets that analysts attributed to fund-driven long liquidation and technical selling after recent highs.
14 May 2021
1 minute read
Reuters reports that CME June live cattle futures settled down 3 cents at 115.600 cents per pound while August ended down 2.925 cents at 119.400 cents.
"It seems it was a risk-off day all across the board ... It was more of a technical move and just money flow, taking some risk off the table," said Altin Kalo, economist at Steiner Consulting Group.
Firm wholesale beef prices underpinned the market. Choice cuts were up $1.70 on Thursday to $316.78 per hundredweight (cwt), the highest in nearly a year, while select cuts fell $1.25 to $295.91 per cwt, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"We are two weeks before Memorial Day, and beef in the market is extremely tight. Some of these price levels are not sustainable in the long term. But in the short term, (retailers) cannot afford to go without, going into the biggest beef consumption holiday of the year," Kalo said.
CME feeder cattle futures closed modestly lower, with losses limited by a plunge in Chicago Board of Trade corn futures that tempered worries about the cost of feed. August feeders settled down 0.025 cent at 150.500 cents per pound.
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Source: Reuters
