Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange feeder cattle futures eased on Wednesday, with surging corn prices expected to boost feeding costs in the coming weeks, traders said.
But live cattle contracts were close to unchanged.
Hog futures fell from a nine-month high on a round of profit-taking, with the most-active August contract snapping a streak of seven straight higher closes.
The August CME feeder cattle contract dropped 4.425 cents, to 227.725 cents/lb., falling below the low end of its 20-day Bollinger range for the first time since Nov. 16.
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CME July hogs fell 1.1 cents to 94.75 cents/lb. while August hogs ended down 0.425 cent at 92.775 cents/lb. On a continuous basis, the front-month contract hit its highest since Sept. 20, 2022 before retreating into negative territory.
USDA priced the pork carcass cutout at $96.08/cwt on Wednesday afternoon, $1.46 higher than Tuesday.
CME’s benchmark August live cattle contract settled up 0.05 cents at 169.75 cents/lb. The contract faced technical resistance at its 20-day moving average during Wednesday’s session.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture priced choice cuts of beef at $334.25 per hundredweight (cwt) on Wednesday afternoon, $2.66 lower than on Tuesday. Select cuts were $3.68 lower at $304.25/cwt.
Profit margins for meat packers fell to $142.48 per head of cattle, up from $182.55 on Friday and $144.05 a week ago, according to livestock marketing advisory service HedgersEdge.
— Mark Weinraub is a Reuters commodities correspondent in Chicago.
