Chicago | Reuters — Cattle futures fell on a short, choppy day of trading on Friday, as technical trading had some contracts up earlier in the session even as corn prices firmed, traders said.
CME lean hog futures also eased back.
The Chicago-traded livestock markets closed early on Friday, and were closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Early in the day, live cattle saw support from strong cash cattle trades on Wednesday, traders said, with live cattle trading at $154 per hundredweight (cwt) — up from $152/cwt a week ago.
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With markets closed on Nov. 24 for Thanksgiving, meat packers had a short week to buy enough cattle for a full week of slaughter next week, one trader said.
Boxed beef values were mixed on Friday morning, with choice cuts falling 61 cents to $251.95/cwt, while select cuts gained $2.60, to $235.93, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.
Both beef and pork packer margins slumped into the red on Friday, according to Denver-based livestock marketing advisory service HedgersEdge.com.
Packers slaughtered an estimated 112,000 cattle on Friday, down from 125,000 cattle a week earlier and up from 116,000 cattle a year ago, USDA said in a daily report.
An estimated 465,000 hogs were slaughtered, down from 481,000 hogs a week ago and up from 458,000 hogs a year ago.
Most-active CME February live cattle futures settled down 0.3 cent at 155.125 cents/lb. The nearby December contract fell 0.275 cent to finish at 153.075 cents/lb.
Most-active CME January feeder cattle, meanwhile, closed down 0.95 cent at 178.3 cents/lb.
And most-active CME February lean hogs contract settled down 0.3 cent at 88.5 cents/lb.
— P.J. Huffstutter reports on agriculture and agribusiness for Reuters from Chicago.
