Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle closed lower Tuesday on profit-taking on the final trading session of the quarter, traders said. April closed 1.175 cents per pound lower at 161.325 cents, and June 0.65 cent lower at 152.325 cents (all figures US$). In a trading strategy known as bear spreading, investors sold […] Read more

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle futures finish lower

U.S. livestock: CME hogs close firm after USDA report
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hogs gained modestly on Monday, helped by short-covering and deferred-month buying pegged to Friday’s U.S. Department of Agriculture quarterly hog report, traders said. Last Friday’s report showed active herd expansion during the December-February quarter that slowed as producer profits waned. Nearby hog futures bounced around throughout the […] Read more

USDA hog report confirms active herd growth as PED fears ease
Reuters — The U.S. hog herd grew seven per cent during the December-February quarter versus the same period last year, a U.S. Department of Agriculture report showed on Friday, reflecting producer profitability and the less-severe porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus, said analysts. Hog farmers willingly expanded their herds after vaccines and tighter biosecurity measures offset […] Read more

U.S. livestock: CME hogs mixed before USDA report
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures settled narrowly mixed Friday on positioning prior to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s quarterly hog report at 2 p.m. CT, traders said. Analysts expect Friday’s report to confirm active herd expansion during the last quarter. April and May closed up 0.15 cent per pound, to […] Read more

U.S. livestock: CME hogs bounce with pork price, live cattle sag
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hogs finished higher on Thursday, driven partly by short-covering following a spike in wholesale pork values, traders said. April closed 1.15 cent per pound higher at 60.975 cents, and May up 1.5 cents at 68.025 cents (all figures US$). The morning’s wholesale pork price jumped $1.51 per […] Read more

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle pare early losses after beef price hike
Chicago | Reuters –– Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle fell on Wednesday for the first time in seven days as investors took profits, but sharply higher wholesale beef values minimized losses, traders said. April closed down 0.275 cent per pound, to 161.725 cents, and June 0.675 cent lower at 152.375 cents (all figures US$). The […] Read more

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle futures extend gains
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle closed higher for a sixth consecutive session on Tuesday, partly led by a bounce in wholesale beef prices, traders said. April closed 0.65 cent per pound higher at 162 cents, and June up 0.05 cent to 153.05 cents (all figures US$). The morning’s choice wholesale beef […] Read more

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle up again on cash prices, USDA report
Chicago | Reuters –– Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures finished higher for a fifth straight session on Monday, fuelled by last week’s better-than-expected cash prices, traders said. Packers paid $163 to $165 per hundredweight (cwt) for market-ready or cash cattle in the U.S. Plains on Friday, up from $161 to $162.50 the previous week, […] Read more

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle rise before USDA report
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures closed firm on Friday, partly on positioning ahead of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s monthly Cattle on Feed report. Analysts expect the data at 2 p.m. CT to show decreased cattle placements in February compared with a year ago. April closed 0.35 cent per pound […] Read more

U.S. livestock: CME hog futures hit five-year low as supply trumps demand
Chicago | Reuters –– Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures sank to their lowest level in five years on Thursday, given ample supplies versus slack pork demand, said traders and analysts. “Pork demand never recuperated from the high prices we had in the past,” said EBOTTrading.com senior analyst John Kleist. Pork demand is compounded by […] Read more