CHICAGO, Jan 5 (Reuters) – Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures on Thursday gave back some of Wednesday’s gains, pressured by profit-taking and technical selling, said traders.
They said early-session futures buying subsided after investors digested this week’s cash prices.
February live cattle closed 0.600 cent per pound lower at 115.075 cents. April ended down 0.575 cent to 114.150 cents, and below the 10-day moving average of 114.580 cents.
This week, slaughter-ready, or cash, cattle in the U.S. Plains brought $116 to $118 per cwt, steady to $4 lower than a week ago, said feedlot sources.
Read Also
U.S. grains: Soybean futures hit one-month high on U.S.-China trade hopes
Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures hit their highest level in a month on Monday on renewed optimism over U.S.-China trade talks after U.S. President Donald Trump said he believed Beijing would agree to a soybean trade deal and will buy U.S. soy again.
Wednesday’s Fed Cattle Exchange resulted in $115.50 to $117.25 per cwt sales, compared with mostly $115 to $116.75 a week earlier.
Some packers paid steady money for supplies to accommodate the first full workweek since the Christmas holiday, a trader said. Beef sales benefited from shoppers eying meat protein other than ham and turkey after the year-end holidays, he said.
Thursday morning’s choice wholesale beef price was up 22 cents per cwt from Wednesday to $203.87. Select cuts climbed 61 cents to $194.91, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.
Subsequent CME live cattle futures selling pressured the change’s feeder cattle contracts.
January feeders closed down 0.250 cent per pound to 128.250 cents.
Strong cash prices and the morning’s higher wholesale pork values, as arctic air returns to the Midwest, lifted CME lean hogs for a second day in a row, said traders.
February hogs ended up 0.275 cent per pound to 64.875 cents, and April closed 0.350 cent higher at 68.325 cents.
Cash hog prices on Thursday morning in the U.S. Midwest were steady to $1 per cwt higher, according to regional hog dealers.
“You might have a few packers cancelling kills because some of these guys (farmers) don’t want to open up their barns in order to keep out the cold,” a Midwest hog merchant said.
He said retailers may have bought pork to avoid a potential inventory shortage resulting from late delivery of hogs to packing plants.
USDA estimated Thursday’s hog slaughter at 434,000 head, down 10,000 from a week ago.
Thursday morning’s wholesale pork price jumped 84 cents per cwt from Wednesday to $80.15, mostly led by $8 higher hams, the USDA said.
The weaker dollar, which makes U.S. pork more attractive to foreign buyers, provided underlying futures market support, said traders and analysts.
