Chicago | Reuters –– Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures rose on Friday in a bout of technical trading, as cash prices remained relatively steady and investors positioned themselves ahead of the monthly U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report, traders said.
On the pork side, a second day of volatile trading across lean hog futures resulted in a number of new contract lows, fueled in part by ongoing woes in the cash market, traders said.
The USDA Cattle on Feed report, which came out after the market closed, was seen as generally neutral, analysts said. The number of U.S. cattle on feed, as of May 1, stood at 11.608 million head, down about three per cent from a year earlier and generally in line analysts’ expectations.
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USDA also reported April placements of cattle into feedlots were down from a year earlier, though smaller than average trade estimates.
Cattle futures also gained a late-session boost from Chicago Board of Trade grain futures, with corn futures weakening as the day progressed amid low U.S. export demand and broader market volatility due to economic uncertainty.2
CME June live cattle settled up 0.2 cent at 165.725 cents/lb., and benchmark August futures ended up 0.675 cent at 164.3 cents (all figures US$).
CME August feeder cattle rose 0.6 cent to finish at 235.1 cents/lb., after setting a new life-of-contract high at 235.725 cents.
CME lean hog futures ended down, with June hogs dropping 2.275 cents to 83.025 cents/lb. The most-active July contract fell 2.475 cents to end at 83.125, after setting a new life-of-contract low of 82.825.
— P.J. Huffstutter reports on agriculture and agribusiness for Reuters from Chicago.
