Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures plunged for a second straight session on Friday on fund long liquidation, closing out a volatile week of trading in the livestock pits with prices for live and feeder cattle contracts ending near the week's lows.

U.S. Livestock: CME cattle down sharply on fund selling, ending near week’s lows
CME lean hog futures followed cattle contracts lower

U.S. livestock: CME cattle drop on fund selling, beef demand concerns
Chicago lean hogs continue higher
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures dropped on Thursday after two sessions of gains, pressured by fund long liquidation and as higher corn feed prices and worries about demand for high-priced beef cuts hung over the market. Technical selling accelerated the break, the live cattle market’s sixth in the last eight sessions, […] Read more

U.S. livestock: CME cattle gain for second straight day after selloff
Chicago lean hog futures also firm
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures rose for a second consecutive session on Wednesday on short covering and follow-through technical and bargain buying after the market plunged to multi-month lows to start the week. Improving packer margins and futures’ steep discount to cash cattle prices also supported the market following the fund-selling […] Read more

U.S. livestock: CME cattle up on short covering, discount to cash
Short covering also lifts CME hogs
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures surged on Tuesday in a short-covering rebound from multi-month lows in the prior session, supported by the market’s steep discount to cash market prices. Feeder cattle futures rose by as much as the daily trading limit, triggering expanded limits for both feeders and live cattle for […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Fund selling sends CME cattle to multi-month lows
February hogs touch contract low
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures tumbled sharply for a second straight session on Monday on fund long liquidation, technical selling and concerns about slowing beef demand and rising supplies. Actively traded February live cattle dropped to an eight-month low while several deferred-month contracts posted life-of-contract lows. January feeder cattle plunged more […] Read more

Bunge seeks antitrust approvals for Viterra merger in major jurisdictions
Commodities market competition healthy in Canada, U.S., CEO says
Minneapolis | Reuters — Bunge has filed for regulatory approvals for its merger with crop handler Viterra in “major jurisdictions” in North and South America, Europe and China, and has gotten the green light from some of its smaller markets including Colombia, CEO Greg Heckman said on Thursday. The merger, which would create a company […] Read more

Low water on Mississippi to persist despite improved drought outlook
Risk of getting stuck mean less grain per barge
Chicago | Reuters — Low water levels on the lower Mississippi River are likely to persist through at least January despite expected above-normal precipitation across the southern U.S. this winter, forecasters with the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said on Thursday. The severe to exceptional drought choking the lower Mississippi River valley is expected to […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Cattle retreat as energy rally dents beef demand outlook
Lean hog futures mostly also lower
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures fell on Friday as traders banked profits and squared positions ahead of the weekend as geopolitical turmoil riled energy markets and stoked concerns about beef demand. Crude oil rallied more than five per cent on Friday on the escalating Middle East conflict as the Israeli military […] Read more

U.S. grains: Soy, corn slip on profit taking, macro pressure
Exports lift wheat futures
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures retreated on Friday on profit-taking after hitting two-week highs in the previous session and as souring consumer sentiment and inflation worries hung over the market. Corn futures followed soybeans lower, but wheat rallied after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported stronger-than-expected weekly export sales and confirmed a […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Cattle, hogs down as Middle East war sparks risk-off selling
Smithfield to shut Charlotte, N.C. plant
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures retreated on Monday while lean hog futures fell for the first time in four sessions, pressured by risk-off selling as violence erupted in the Middle East over the weekend and riled global markets. The bloodiest fighting in years between the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Israel […] Read more