Hog, cattle futures ease - CME
May feeder cattle pressured by rising input costs
4 April 2022
1 minute read
By: Lean hog futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) fell on Friday on follow-through technical selling one day after the benchmark June contract closed lower in a huge reversal from a life-of-contract high, reported Reuters.
CME benchmark June lean hogs settled down 0.175 cent at 120.450 cents per pound, retreating farther from the contract high set Thursday at 127.325 cents. Commodity funds hold net long positions in CME lean hog and live cattle futures, leaving both markets vulnerable to bouts of long liquidation.
Hog futures cooled after the June contract rose 6.3% during March, its fifth straight monthly advance, reflecting tightening hog supplies. The US Department of Agriculture this week reported the US hog herd at a smaller-than-expected 72.2 million head as of 1 March, down 2.3% from a year ago.
CME live cattle futures closed lower Friday on technical selling, with the most-active June contract ending down 1.275 cents at 135.850 cents per pound. The contract broke through support at its 20-day moving average near 136 cents and was approaching its 200-day moving average near 135.2 cents.
May feeder cattle fell 0.425 cent to finish at 166.125 cents per pound, pressured by rising prices for corn that imply higher feed costs. New-crop corn futures climbed this week after the USDA projected a 4% drop in US corn plantings for 2022.
