Hog futures mixed; steady-weak cattle future

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CHICAGO — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures ended mixed on Friday as traders waited for further news to gauge demand levels.

December’s most active CME lean hog futures fell 0.625 cents to 77.15 cents a pound, with support noted around the contract’s 10-day moving average. First October hogs rose 0.575 cents to 92.95 cents a pound.

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Both contracts closed above their session lows after weakening early in the trading day.

The future of livestock was stable or weaker.

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October CME Live Cattle was unchanged at 145.325 cents per pound and the most active December contract fell 0.825 cents to close at 147.05 cents.

CME November feeder cattle fell 0.8 cents to end at 175.625 cents a pound.

Meat packers slaughtered about 118,000 cattle on Friday, 3,000 more than a week ago and up from 114,000 cattle a year ago, the USDA said. In the pig sector, packers killed an estimated 480,000 pigs. This compares to 453,000 pigs a week ago and 473,000 pigs a year ago.

Stronger wholesale hog prices provided support. The U.S. Department of Agriculture priced pork carcasses Friday morning at $103.17 per hundredweight (cwt), up $1.76 from Thursday afternoon.

Spot hog prices have softened. The CME Lean Hog ​​Index, a two-day weighted average of spot hog prices, fell 16 cents to $92.77 a hundredweight, its lowest since Feb. 14. (Report by Mark Weinraub)