A Choppy Livestock Trade on Wednesday
Wednesday was a choppy day for livestock futures. Cash cattle have been relatively steady. Outside markets firm on trade headlines. Weekly exports disappoint.
Live Cattle (June)
June live cattle futures gave back gains from the prior two sessions but managed to defend our pivot pocket to a T from 210.00-211.00, which gave some relief off the lows into the close. That pivot pocket will continue to be watched very closely into the weekend. A failure there and we could see some profit taking kick in. Upside levels remain intact and realistic with where the cash market is trading.
Resistance: 215*, 218*
Pivot: 210.00-211.00
Support: 207.72-208.25***, 203.25-204.20**
Daily Cattle and Beef Summary
Cutout values were firm again on Wednesday afternoon with choice cuts 1.48 higher to 346.15 and select cuts 1.03 higher to 334.00. Slaughter on Wednesday was reported at 119k head. The 5-area average price for live steers was reported at 218.82.
The CME feeder Cattle Index is at 293.41 with the NBW Real-Time Index showing 299.48 as of this morning.
Weekly Export Sales
Beef: Net sales of 7,600 MT for 2025 were down 41 percent from the previous week and 42 percent from the prior 4-week average. Increases primarily for Japan (6,600 MT, including decreases of 200 MT), South Korea (1,900 MT, including decreases of 400 MT), Hong Kong (1,400 MT, including decreases of 100 MT), Taiwan (1,000 MT, including decreases of 100 MT), and Mexico (900 MT, including decreases of 100 MT), were offset by reductions for China (5,500 MT). Exports of 15,100 MT were down 4 percent from the previous week, but up 3 percent from the prior 4-week average. The destinations were primarily to South Korea (5,200 MT), Japan (4,400 MT), Mexico (1,400 MT), Taiwan (1,300 MT), and Hong Kong (1,000 MT).
Seasonal Tendency Update
(updated 5.5.25)
Below is a look at historical price averages for June futures on a 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30 year time frames (Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results).
Commitment of Traders Update
Friday’s Commitment of Traders report showed Funds were net buyers of roughly 13.5k futures/options contracts, expanding their net long position to 128,840 futures and options contracts.
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