CME cattle futures firm; hog futures ease
Grain markets pressured on profit-taking
11 November 2022
2 minute read
By: Live cattle futures firmed at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) on Thursday, as grain markets came under pressure from investor profit-taking even as the US dollar tumbled on news US consumer prices rose less than expected in October, Reuters reported, citing brokers.
December live cattle settled 1.500 cents higher at 153.075 cents per lb. February live cattle rose 0.875 cent to 155.025 cents per lb, bouncing back from the previous session's slump.
There has been limited trade in the cash cattle markets this week, but traders were expecting more business to occur on Friday, said Dax Wedemeyer, a broker and grains analyst with US Commodities in West Des Moines, Iowa.
Feeder cattle futures were bolstered by a drop in corn futures, with the most-active January contract FCF3 rising 2.05 cents to end at 181.700 cents per lb.
"For hogs, that market continues to be seeing seasonal price pressure, as are ham values," Wedemeyer said.
Meanwhile, China cancelled exports of both US pork and beef sales, USDA reported on Thursday.
In hog futures, CME December lean hogs eased 0.400 cent to close at 84.875 cents per lb.
On Thursday, meatpackers slaughtered an estimated 129,000 cattle, up from 128,000 a week earlier and up from 116,000 cattle a year ago, the USDA said. Hog slaughtering rose to an estimated 490,000 head from 489,000 hogs a week ago and 447,000 a year ago.
The USDA quoted the US pork carcass cutout value on Thursday morning at $96.82 per hundredweight (cwt), up $2.70 from Wednesday.
