Hog futures up slightly on firm demand, weaker dollar
By Heather Schlitz
CHICAGO, Sept 18 (Reuters) -Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures ticked up on Wednesday as pork cutout values remained strong and a weaker dollar made U.S. exports more competitive, traders said.
October hog futures LHV24 settled up 0.275 cents at 82.05 cents per pound.
Pork carcass values increased by $1.08 to $96.08 per hundredweight, and other cutouts increased except for bellies, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data published on Wednesday morning.
Live and feeder cattle futures fell slightly while traders adjusted positionsahead of Friday's monthly USDA Cattle on Feed report. Analysts expect the report will show there were 0.9% more cattle in U.S. feedlots on Sept. 1 than a year earlier, according to a Reuters poll.
"It'll stick around with some more choppy trade until we get to end of the week and there's something new to react to," Matthew Wiegand, broker at FuturesOne, said.
The dollar extended declines after the Federal Reserve cut rates by half of a percentage point. U.S. stocks briefly shot higher, which if continued could support cattle futures on Thursday, traders said.
Wholesale U.S. boxed beef prices have trended downward over the past week, suggesting consumer demand may be weak, traders said.
Choice boxed beef prices slid by 36 cents to $303.55 per hundredweight and select cuts of boxed beef fell by 61 cents to $291.61 per hundredweight, according to USDA data on Wednesday morning.
CME October live cattle futures LCV24 ended down 0.5 cent at 178.30 cents per pound. October feeder cattle FCV24 ended down 0.8 cent at 239.95 cents per pound.
Reporting by Heather Schlitz, editing by Deepa Babington
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