Beef contracts opened mostly firm as shorts covered. Some cattle traders were also drawn to spot April's new contract low on Wednesday and the spot month and nearby June's oversold chart signals.

Deferred cattle contracts were generally flat to firm given electronic CBOT corn that vacillated overnight and throughout the morning session.

Nonetheless, upside live cattle momentum increased as several CME hog month options sprinted toward the 300-point limit threshold. Further cattle gains were attributed to fund buying, particularly in the June contract that at one point surfaced above 10-day moving average resistance.

Forward cattle futures registered triple-digit advances without the blessing of some cash cattle sales on Wednesday that came in $1 to $2 per hundredweight below last week's outcome. However, remaining fed cattle may be priced higher based on future's rally on Thursday, a broker said.

Source: FXSTREET