Chicago | Reuters – CME Group hog futures firmed on Friday as traders covered short positions after prices fell 5.6 percent over the last two sessions, though demand concerns capped gains.
A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report showed that pork export sales in the week ended June 16 totalled 27,600 tonnes, unchanged from a week earlier.
Beef export sales were down to 11,300 tonnes from 17,400 a week earlier.
CME July lean hog futures LHN2 rose 2.375 cents to close at 110.925 cents per pound, while the most-active August hogs LHQ2 were 3.1 cents higher at 106.775 cents per pound.
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August hogs rallied through their 10-day, 20-day, 30-day and 40-day moving averages during the session.
The most-active August live cattle futures LCQ2 dropped 0.5 cent to 133.375 cents per pound. October live cattle LCV2 fell 0.25 cent to 139.75 cents.
Both contracts found support near their Thursday lows.
CME August feeder cattle FCQ2 fell 2.35 cents to settle at 172.5 cents per pound. The contract hit a one-week low.
After the close, USDA said the amount of cattle on feed as of June 1 was 101 percent of a year earlier and marketings during May were 102 percent of the May 2021 total. The monthly report also showed that placements fell 2 percent during May to 98 percent of the year-ago total.
Analysts had been expecting the report to show that the amount of cattle on feed as of June 1 was 101.4 percent of the total from a year earlier. Cattle placements during May had been forecast at 99.6 percent of the May 2021 total and marketings at 103 percent.
