Cattle futures sag as Wall Street indexes dip; hogs mixed
By Julie Ingwersen
CHICAGO, July 18 (Reuters) -Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) live cattle futures closed lower on Thursday on technical selling as well as declines in Wall Street equity markets that raised concerns about consumer demand for beef, analysts said.
CME August live cattle futures LCQ24 settled down 2.025 cents at 182.250 cents per pound. Most-active October cattle LCV24 ended down 2.550 cents at 183.025 cents. The October contract opened higher but quickly turned lower after failing to match Wednesday's high of 185.875 cents.
CME August feeder cattle futures FCQ24 ended down 2.325 cents at 256.225 cents per pound.
On Wall Street, U.S. stocks tumbled on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI down 533.06 points in a retreat after a series of consecutive record highs. .N
"The main focus is on what is going on with the stock market. We are worried about (beef) demand again," said Ted Seifried, chief market strategist for the Zaner Group.
Wholesale beef prices softened on Thursday, with choice cuts priced at $316.15 per hundredweight (cwt), down $2.01 from Wednesday.
A reduced slaughter pace this week added to bearish sentiment, signaling softer demand for cattle from meat packers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported Thursday's cattle slaughter 115,000 head, down from 122,000 a week ago and 124,355 head a year ago. LIV/KILL
Ahead of the USDA's monthly Cattle on Feed report, due Friday, analysts surveyed by Reuters on average expect the government to report the number of cattle in U.S. feedlots as of July 1 at 11.327 million head, up 1.1% from a year ago.
CME hog futures ended narrowly mixed. August lean hog futures LHQ24 settled down 0.275 cent at 91.375 cents per pound while October hogs LHV24 rose 0.350 cents to finish at 74.025 cents.
Flagging demand for beef could bolster consumer demand for lower-priced pork, Seifried noted.
"If we are getting worried about the stock market and the economy, you might see some value buying happening for pork (as) the cheaper alternative," Seifried said.
The USDA priced the pork carcass cutout on Thursday afternoon at $100.25 per cwt, up 93 cents from Wednesday.
Reporting by Julie Ingwersen; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi
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