Feeder, live cattle futures fall on profit taking - CME
Lean hog markets decline for eighth straight session
17 April 2026
1 minute read
By: Profit-taking pulled down live cattle and feeder cattle futures on Thursday after the markets galloped to contract highs this week, reported Reuters.
Traders kept a close eye on cash prices that influence futures after the cash market set an all-time high last week. Futures could backpedal if cash prices do not set new highs again this week, traders said.
Cattle traded lightly in the cash market on Wednesday at $248 per hundredweight, which was about steady to down from last week's prices, traders said. They were waiting to see prices for more deals on Thursday and Friday.
Cash prices and futures have set records this year because US cattle inventories fell to the lowest level in 75 years, pushing up beef prices for consumers. Ranchers increasingly sent cattle to slaughter in recent years, instead of keeping them for breeding, because of high prices and a drought that burned up grazing lands.
Most-active CME June live cattle on Thursday slid 3.45 cents to finish at 247.625 cents per pound after setting a contract high of 252 cents per pound on Tuesday.
Thinly traded April futures ended down 2.3 cents at 250.300 cents per pound. The contract pulled back after rising on Tuesday to 253.600 cents per pound, an all-time high on a continuous chart of the front-month live cattle contract.
For feeder cattle, May futures dropped 3.85 cents to close at 367.100 cents per pound, extending a setback after reaching a contract high of 377.575 cents per pound on Tuesday.
Traders were waiting for the US Department of Agriculture to issue monthly data on Friday on the number of cattle in the nation's feedlots. They want to see how many cattle were placed in feedlots in March after placements exceeded analysts' estimates in February.
Analysts surveyed by Reuters estimated that the number of cattle on feed as of April 1 was down 0.5% from a year earlier and that placements in March were down 7.1% from a year before.
In the lean hog market, CME June futures declined for the eighth straight session. The contract slid 0.275 cent to end at 101.675 cents per pound and set the lowest price since December.
