Nov 1 (Reuters) - CME live cattle futures traded narrowly
mixed on Friday in choppy action.
* Investors are still digesting the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's neutral to mildly bullish cattle-on-feed report,
issued on Thursday, traders said.
* The report showed September placements close to trade
estimates, with marketings up slightly more than anticipated.
* The report was a "non event," but lower placements
continued the trend of tight cattle supplies into next year, a
trader said.
* Separate USDA monthly cold storage data on Thursday showed
total beef stocks in September at 445.0 million lbs, up 3
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percent from August and up 5 percent from last year.
* Thursday's cold storage outcome ends last summer's string
of encouraging beef exports and beef inventory results, an
analyst said.
LIVE CATTLE - At 8:55 a.m. CDT (1355 GMT), December
was up 0.050 cent at 132.775 cents per lb. February was
at 134.175 cents, down 0.025 cent.
* Investors are adjusting positions before the weekend while
waiting for cattle in the cash market to change hands.
* Cash cattle bids in the U.S. Plains stood at roughly $132
per hundredweight (cwt), against sellers asking $134 and higher,
said feedlots sources.
* Market bulls are expecting cash cattle to trade at a
minimum of last week's record high of $132 per cwt due to brisk
wholesale beef demand and improving packer margins.
* Bearish investors see sufficient near-term supplies, and
potential reluctance by grocers to buy beef at higher prices,
pressuring cash returns.
* FEEDER CATTLE - November was up 0.450 cent to
164.825 cents per lb, while January was at 164.300 cents,
0.625 cent higher.
* CME feeder cattle drew support from firm deferred-month
live cattle futures and weak corn prices.
LEAN HOGS - December was at 88.725 cents per lb, down
0.450 cent, while February dropped 0.500 cent to 91.525
cents.
* Thursday's lower cash hog prices and more profit-taking
weakened CME hogs on Friday, traders and analysts said.
* Packers have supply needs met in the near term, given the
seasonal bump in the number of hogs at heavier weight, a trader
said.
* Supermarkets are buying fresh pork hand-to-mouth while
gearing up for featuring turkey during the Thanksgiving Day
holiday, he said.
* The prospect that the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus
(PEDv), which is fatal to piglets, might reduce supplies in 2014
lessened far-month hog futures losses, an analyst said.
* On Thursday, the government reported September pork stocks
at 566.4 million lbs, up 3 percent from the previous month but
down 10 percent from last year.
* "The pork number, versus a year ago, is disappointing. It
might speak to lackluster consumer pork demand and reduced hog
slaughters," the analyst said.
(Reporting by Theopolis Waters in Chicago; Editing by John
Wallace)
CME live cattle futures mixed, hogs lower
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