Chicago | Reuters — 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 U.S. dollar tumbled on news U.S consumer prices rose less than expected in October, brokers said.
December live cattle settled 1.5 cents higher at 153.075 cents/lb. February live cattle rose 0.875 cent, to 155.025 cents/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 at West Des Moines, Iowa.
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Feeder cattle futures were bolstered by a drop in corn futures, with the most-active January contract rising 2.05 cents to end at 181.7 cents/lb.
“For hogs, that market continues to be seeing seasonal price pressure, as are ham values,” Wedemeyer said.
Meanwhile, China canceled exports of both U.S. pork and beef sales, USDA reported on Thursday.
In hog futures, CME December lean hogs eased 0.4 cent to close at 84.875 cents/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, USDA said. Hog slaughtering rose to an estimated 490,000 head from 489,000 hogs a week ago and 447,000 a year ago.
USDA quoted the U.S. pork carcass cutout value on Thursday morning at $96.82 per hundredweight, up $2.70 from Wednesday.
— P.J. Huffstutter reports on agriculture and agribusiness for Reuters from Chicago.
