Reading Time: 3 minutes Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures finished lower on Thursday as fund liquidation erased early-session cash-infused gains, traders said. Wednesday’s CME live cattle advances, driven by higher cash cattle prices and the firm beef cutout, carried over into Thursday morning’s trade. However, traders took profits in anticipation of cash cattle prices peaking soon as packers […] Read more
U.S. live cattle futures slump as funds sell
U.S. Senate budget deal lends cattle, hog futures support
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures closed higher on Wednesday, supported by the steep climb in equities in response to the U.S. Senate’s budget deal that puts the government one step closer to reopening soon. “I hope that’s the case so we can get (U.S. Department of Agriculture) price data flowing again,” a trader said. […] Read more
Fund buying lifts U.S. hog futures from morning lows
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures prices finished more than one per cent higher on Tuesday as fund buying rallied the market from early-session lows, traders and analysts said. They said nearby hog contracts punched through resistance levels at key moving averages, drawing the attention of fund buyers and triggering buy stops. December hogs closed 1.45 […] Read more
U.S. live cattle hit seven-month high as beef prices gain
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle on Monday climbed to a seven-month high, supported by firm wholesale beef values, traders and analysts said. Friday’s higher-than-expected cash cattle prices motivated futures buyers on Monday. And speculators bought deferred trading months in anticipation of tighter cattle numbers in the months ahead. Thousands of cattle lost to the freak […] Read more
U.S. feeder cattle again hit new highs on tight supply
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago Mercantile Exchange feeder cattle futures rose to new highs for a second straight session on Friday fueled by a shortage of supplies, traders and analysts said. October feeder cattle ended 1.55 cents per pound higher at 167.475 cents, having earlier hit a new contract high of 168.475 cents in electronic trading. November settled at […] Read more
U.S. feeder cattle again hit new highs as corn falls
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago Mercantile Exchange feeder cattle futures on Thursday rose to a record high for the second time this week as reduced corn costs encourage feedlots to buy young cattle. Chicago Board of Trade corn for December delivery settled down 5-1/4 cents at $4.38-1/4 a bushel (all figures US$), weighed by seasonal harvest pressure and talk […] Read more
South Korea suspends some U.S. beef imports over feed additive
Reading Time: 4 minutes South Korea has suspended some U.S. beef imports after detecting the cattle feed additive zilpaterol in meat supplied by a unit of JBS USA, raising concerns that the controversial animal growth enhancer may still be in the supply chain weeks after its manufacturer Merck halted sales of Zilmax, the top-selling zilpaterol-based drug. The South Korean […] Read more
U.S. hog futures fall as supplies rise
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures dropped sharply on Wednesday in reaction to a seasonal bump in supplies that could pressure cash hog and wholesale pork values. Armed with profitable margins and ample supplies, packers plan to process roughly 140,000 hogs on Saturday, analysts and hog buyers said. Wednesday’s hog prices in direct and terminal markets […] Read more
CME to monitor alternate hog pricing against manipulation
Reading Time: 3 minutes CME Group, the largest U.S. futures market operator, said Tuesday it will step up surveillance of its lean hog futures next week to prevent price manipulation under a pricing formula the exchange adopted to cope with the shut down of the U.S. government. The closer look from the exchange operator’s market regulation department will guard […] Read more
Cheaper corn drives CME feeder cattle to all-time high
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago Mercantile Exchange feeder cattle futures on Tuesday hit the highest level ever at US164.95 cents per pound, driven by cheaper feed that could encourage feedlots to buy young cattle. Chicago Board of Trade corn for December delivery settled down 7-1/2 cents at $4.41-3/4 a bushel after reports of better-than-expected yields from the ongoing harvest […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
