By Julie Ingwersen
CHICAGO, Nov 12 (Reuters) – Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures closed mostly lower on Friday, pressured by rising corn prices that depressed feeder cattle futures, traders said.
But firmer cash cattle prices this week underpinned the market.
CME January feeder cattle futures FCF2 fell 1.350 cents to end at 157.725 cents per pound, sagging as Chicago Board of Trade corn futures Cv1 rose 1.4%, signaling higher costs for cattle feed.
In live cattle futures, the most-active February contract LCG2 ended down 0.300 cent at 136.100 cents per pound, and deferred contracts closed lower as well.
However, the spot December contract LCZ1 settled up 0.250 cent at 132.125 cents per pound, paring gains after notching a two-month high at 132.625 cents.
Market-ready cattle traded at $131 to $132 per hundredweight (cwt) in southern U.S. Plains cash markets this week, up $2 to $3 from last week.
“We’re looking for cattle to trade steady-higher again next week. Packer margins remain huge, $500 a head,” said Don Roose, president of Iowa-based U.S. Commodities.
“(Cattle) numbers are tightening. And you are getting ever so close to where you could get into winter issues,” Roose said, adding that wintry weather tends to slow the transport of cattle and hogs.
In the hog market, CME lean hog futures closed higher on a mix of technical buying ahead of the weekend and support from Thursday’s jump in wholesale pork prices.
CME December lean hogs LHZ1 settled up 0.500 cent at 75.875 cents per pound and February hogs LHG2 ended up 1.475 cents at 80.550 cents.
Wholesale pork prices declined on Friday afternoon, with the U.S. carcass cutout value down $1.09 at $94.71 per cwt. That retreat followed a jump of more than $5 a day earlier.
(Reporting by Julie Ingwersen)
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