CHICAGO, March 22 (Reuters) – Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle settled in bearish territory for a fourth straight session, on leftover selling and fund liquidation after contracts dropped below technical support levels, traders said.
April live cattle ended 1.925 cents per lb lower at 136.425, and June finished 1.700 cents lower at 126.150. Both contracts ended below their respective 20-day moving average 137.89 and 127.32 cents.
Future’s losses, tepid wholesale beef demand and more cattle for sale than last week might pressure prices for market-ready, or cash, cattle later this week, said traders and analysts.
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Some packing plants will be closed on Good Friday and most will be dark on Easter Monday, which could reduce packer needs for supplies.
The morning’s wholesale choice beef price slipped 33 cents per cwt from Monday to $229.47. Select cuts were up 40 cents to $221.07, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.
Last week, cash cattle in the U.S. Plains moved at mostly $139 per cwt, up $1 from the previous week, said feedlot sources.
Futures finished off from session lows, helped by bargain hunting and short-covering ahead of the Easter holiday, traders and analysts said.
USDA will release the monthly cold storage report on Tuesday at 2 p.m. CDT (1900 GMT) that will include February beef and pork inventories.
A few analysts, on average, estimated last month’s cold storage total beef stocks at 509.3 million lbs, and beef at 683.5 million lbs.
CME feeder cattle futures mimicked live cattle four-day losing skid. March, which will expire on Thursday, closed 0.825 cent per lb lower at 161.550 cents.
Short-covering, technical buying and upward-trending wholesale pork prices lifted CME lean hogs, traders said.
April closed 0.800 cent per lb higher at 70.150 cents, May ended up 0.800 cent to 78.475 cents and June finished 1.000 cent higher at 82.850 cents.
The morning wholesale pork price on Tuesday was up 60 cents per cwt from Monday to $77.51, according to government data.
Retailers bought pork to avoid potential shortages when plants are shutdown over the holiday, which reduces the number of hogs packers will need.
Tuesday morning’s average cash hog price in the western corn belt had fallen $1.47 cents per cwt in light volume from Monday to $62.21, the USDA said.
Investors adjusted positions before the government’s quarterly hog report that will be released on Good Friday.
