Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) live cattle fell to a 3-1/2 week low on Monday on long liquidation by funds and profit-taking following recent all-time highs, Reuters reported, citing traders.
The market retreated despite neutral to bullish data in the monthly US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Cattle on Feed report released after the close on Friday as a recent surge in beef prices showed further signs of waning, they said.
"The funds are big longs in the market, and I think it's fair to say that the cash market is starting to put in our seasonal top," said Don Roose, president of US Commodities. "We've got the peak (beef) demand behind us and the cutout probably is in the process of topping."
Demand for beef is expected to decline following a series of holidays when beef consumption typically rises, including Father's Day and the upcoming US Independence Day holiday.
However, concerns waned about a bigger hit to beef demand due to a weekend oil-price surge after the US bombed Iran as crude oil prices fell sharply on Monday. High consumer gas prices can at times hurt demand for premium-priced cuts of beef.
CME August live cattle settled 0.450 cent lower at 209.375 cents per pound after hitting its lowest point since May 28. But the benchmark contract held underlying technical chart support at its 50-day moving average.
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