Limit up on live cattle today, with feeder cattle almost the same.
from Dow Jones:
CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle closed sharply higher Monday, and August settled limit up, on fund-buying, short-covering and buy stops.
Feeder cattle also wound up sharply higher. July-through-October hogs ended higher, but other months finished mostly lower. And pork bellies settled sharply lower with February limit down.
Live cattle opened firm on underlying technical support and shorts that covered previously held positions. Last week's steady cash-cattle sales and positive beef-packer margins spurred talk that fed-cattle prices would be no worse than steady this week.
Cash-basis cattle last week fetched mostly $82 per hundredweight, which was comparable to the prior week's sales.
Spot-June, which will expire on Tuesday, made further headway after it set off buy stops on the way to a two-month top. Nearby-August peaked at an April 16 high soon after it broke through the 100-day moving average barrier.
Traders are now left wondering whether cash-cattle negotiations will keep pace with Monday's steep climb or fall victim to a possible downward adjustment on Tuesday.
