Grains are mixed early Friday with cattle trading two sided and hogs higher.
Scott Varilek of Kooima Kooima Varilek says cattle started lower after new contract highs in both live and feeder cattle futures on Thursday and with the pressure in the stock market.
However, he says the cattle markets continue to be resilient, shaking off any bad news and uncovering buying on any break.
So, it didn’t take long for futures to grind into new highs again.
The market is awaiting cash news which has been non-existent this week and will likely wait until after the Cattle on Feed Report.
That report is projected to be bullish with placement estimates around 86%.
Varilek thinks feedlots will hold out for higher cash again this week and that will continue to pull along the futures.
These are historic highs and so there are no past technicals to use for price projection.
However, he thinks live cattle could test $220 and feeders could break the $300 mark.
Lean hog futures are see a light short covering bounce after a lower close Thursday and a mostly lower week.
Exports were a marketing year low yesterday and are now running 8% behind a year ago for the first couple of months of 2025 and that weighed on futures.
But Varilek says other fundamentals have weakened as cash is starting to erode.
Grains are mixed chopping ahead of the end of the week and seeing some profit taking on spreads.
Varilek says volume is light with March Madness underway and traders taking profits going into the end of the month and quarter and positioning ahead of potentially volatile USDA reports.
