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U.S. livestock: Cattle futures hit near two-month high as cash markets firm

| 1 min read

By Mark Weinraub

Cattle in pens at an auction.

Photo: File

Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures rose for the third day in a row on Wednesday, nearing a two-month high on signs of improving cash markets.

Traders also said a stepped-up pace of slaughter in recent days indicated demand for beef remains high.

CME lean hog futures closed lower, with the front-month contract hitting its lowest on a continuous basis since Feb. 9 on technical selling.

CME December live cattle futures settled up 0.125 cent at 131.575 per pound. The contract peaked at 131.925, its highest since Sept. 3

In feeder cattle, the most-active January contract fell 1.65 cents to settle at 158.95 cents per pound.

The U.S. Agriculture Department on Wednesday morning said that choice cuts of beef fell $1.41 to $283.35 per hundredweight (cwt).

The benchmark December contract dropped 0.6 cent to 71.975 cents per pound. February lean hogs closed the day down 0.825 cent at 74.325 cents per pound.