U.S. livestock: Hog futures sink, cattle mixed

Chicago hog futures fell on Tuesday while cattle futures ended the day mixed.

Most-active February live cattle contracts closed at 226.950 cents a pound, up 0.275 cents. April live cattle settled up 0.200 cents at 226.900 cents per pound.

Most-traded January feeder cattle futures settled down 0.150 cents at 335.500 cents per pound. March contracts lost 0.275 cents to close at 330.150 cents.

Choice boxed beef ended the afternoon at $361.04 per cwt, up $0.14. The USDA reported select beef down $0.57 at $348.03 per cwt.

The U.S. cattle herd the smallest in recent history and demand for beef strong headed into the holidays wrote analyst Jim Wyckoff.

“The U.S. stock indexes are not far below their record highs and U.S. consumers are going to get an interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve this week. These are bullish elements that will likely propel cattle futures prices still higher in the coming weeks, or longer,” he said.

Most-active February lean hog contracts settled at 81.875 cents a pound, down 0.525 cents. April lean hogs closed down 0.450 cents at 86.525 cents a pound.

The USDA reported pork carcass cutout value at $96.44 per cwt on Tuesday afternoon, up $0.93.