Chicago | Reuters—Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) cattle futures were mixed on Friday, with live cattle contracts turning higher and a rally in Chicago corn futures Cv1 pressuring most feeder cattle contracts lower.
Lean hog futures ended the day mostly higher on technical trading and as market participants rolled their positions forward, analysts said.
Friday was the third day of the five-session roll for funds tracking Standard & Poor’s Goldman Sachs Commodity Index, according to traders.
In CME’s lean hog market, for example, investors were selling June LHM24 futures and buying July LHN24 futures as part of this roll, market analysts said. Live cattle traders also were rolling June LCM24 contracts into August LCQ24 contracts, they said.
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Cash cattle markets were at general standstill for the week, as traders cautioned that prices may ease going into next week as buyer demand fluctuates and wholesale prices eased.
Choice and select beef cutout values turned lower on Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported – news that added volatility to cattle markets on the day.
“The question is, when is demand going to surface in earnest this season?” said Dan Norcini, an independent livestock trader.
CME June lean hogs LHM24 settled up 0.65-cent at 98.375 cents per pound.
Actively traded CME June live cattle futures LCM24 finished 0.200-cent higher at 176.150 cents per pound. August feeder cattle FCQ24 settled down 0.150 cents at 250.900 cents per pound.
