Chicago | Reuters — Live cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange closed higher on Tuesday on firmer cash cattle prices compared to last week and broad strength in commodities, analysts said.
CME June live cattle futures settled up 1.5 cents at 136.3 cents/lb. after touching 136.675 cents, the contract’s highest since April 1 (all figures US$).
May feeder cattle futures finished up 1.025 cents at 160.925 cents/lb., shrugging off pressure from rising corn prices that typically signal higher feed costs.
Market-ready cattle traded in Kansas cash markets at $139 per hundredweight (cwt), up $1 from the bulk of last week’s trades, brokers and the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.
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Wholesale beef prices rose as well. USDA reported choice cuts up $1.36 at $273.47/cwt on Tuesday afternoon, while select cuts rose 42 cents, to $260.71.
Concerns about inflation lent support, steering investors into commodities. The U.S. consumer price index rose 1.2 per cent last month, the biggest increase in 16-1/2 years.
Lean hog futures followed the higher trend, buoyed by technical buying. The benchmark CME June contract settled up 3.450 cents at 118.475 cents/lb., pushing through chart resistance at its 50-day moving average just above 116 cents.
“We spent the past four days carving out a bottom, and now we are trying the upside. The hog chart for (the) June (contract) looks friendly,” said Ted Seifried, chief agriculture strategist for the Zaner Group.
U.S. wholesale pork cutout values inched higher. USDA reported that pork carcass value rose 16 cents to $106.80/cwt.
— Julie Ingwersen is a Reuters commodities correspondent in Chicago.
