U.S. livestock: Hog futures weak on bearish supplies

Chicago cattle futures firm

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Published: May 25, 2023

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CME June 2023 lean hogs with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures fell for the fourth day in a row on Wednesday, with a large supply base pressuring the market.

Cattle contracts were firm, rising on a round of technical buying.

After the close, the U.S. Agriculture Department said frozen U.S. beef stocks as of April 30 stood at 447.984 million lbs., down from 532.166 million a year earlier.

Pork belly stocks were up 39.1 per cent at 81.177 million lbs.

CME June live cattle settled up 1.825 cents at 166.1 cents/lb., finding support from early weakness at its 40-day moving average (all figures US$). June live cattle futures have not traded below their 40-day moving average since March 29.

The most-active August live cattle contract rose 1.55 cents, to 164.125 cents.

CME August feeder cattle gained 1.05 cents to finish at 234.525 cents/lb.

CME lean hogs for June delivery dropped 0.875 cent, to 79.8 cents/lb., hitting a fresh contract low of 79.4 cents/lb. The most-active July contract fell 0.15 cent to end at 80.825 cents.

— Mark Weinraub is a Reuters commodities correspondent in Chicago.

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