Chicago | Reuters — U.S. cattle futures steadied on Wednesday, with investors unwilling to push the market above recent highs due to plentiful supplies.
Some producer hedging also was noted, traders said.
“Everybody is a little too bulled up,” said Larry Hicks at Cattlehedging.com. “Everybody thinks we have worked through the supplies and we have not.”
Hog futures were mixed, with the front-month contract easing while deferreds showed some strength.
CME August live cattle futures settled up 0.025 cent at 102.3 cents/lb. Most-active October dropped 0.025 cent to close at 107.45 cents/lb.
Benchmark September feeder cattle fell 0.15 cent to 146.475 cents/lb.
CME October lean hog futures settled up 0.275 cent at 49.3 cents/lb.
— Reporting for Reuters by Mark Weinraub.
