Cattle Futures Rise; Hog Futures Mixed
Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures dropped on Thursday on profit-taking and fund liquidation ahead of the U.S. Agriculture Department’s monthly cattle on feed report.
Feeder cattle followed live cattle futures lower. Hog futures were mixed on bull spreading, with the front month contract rising in thin trading while deferreds weakened.
Packer bids were at $120 to $121 per cwt against $124 to $125 asking prices.
April live cattle closed 1.175 cents per pound lower at 117.800 cents. June ended down 2.275 cents at 103.000 cents.
April CME feeder cattle dropped 1.525 cents per pound to 137.225 cents.
May hogs closed up 0.300 cent per pound at 70.150 cents, with only 318 contracts traded. Most actively traded June dropped 0.45 cent higher to 78.075 cents.