Archive · 7 Oct 2026
Cattle Futures Rally as Beef Prices Rise, Technical Buying
Cattle futures are prices traders agree on for cattle at a later time.
On Tuesday, those prices rose.
Beef prices at wholesale also went up, and meat packers made more money per animal.
Some traders bought cattle contracts after prices moved above important chart levels.
Traders also thought people might keep buying beef.
The stock market and changing expectations about interest rates were part of that thinking.
Feeder cattle prices rose too.
Hog futures mostly fell as some traders took profits from earlier gains.
CME live cattle futures rose Tuesday, with December contracts settling at a three-week high.
Feeder cattle futures also gained, reaching their highest level since mid-July.
Higher wholesale beef prices and wider packer margins supported cattle futures.
Technical buying accelerated gains after prices broke above chart resistance.
Lean hog futures ended mostly lower as traders took profits from earlier gains.
- Who
- Traders in Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle and hog futures; market participants cited included Rich Nelson of Allendale Inc.
- What
- Cattle futures rallied while lean hog futures ended mostly weaker.
- When
- Tuesday, Oct. 6; the article does not specify the year.
- Where
- Chicago Mercantile Exchange markets.
- Why
- Rising wholesale beef prices, wider beef packer margins, technical buying, and perceptions of resilient consumer demand supported cattle futures.
- December live cattle
- Rose 4.125 cents to 224.100 cents per pound, a three-week high.
- November feeder cattle
- Rose 8.150 cents to 338.275 cents per pound, the highest since mid-July.
- Choice boxed beef cutout
- Quoted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture at $378.93 per hundredweight, up 67 cents from the previous day.
- Average beef packer margin
- Rose to $108.85 per head from $59.65 on Monday, according to HedgersEdge.
- December hogs
- Fell 0.575 cents to 70.375 cents per pound.
- Market factors cited
- Rising equities markets, lower crude oil prices, and reduced expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike later that month.