U.S. Cattle Futures Climb Higher as Beef Market Strengthens
October 08 2015 - 1:04PM
Dow Jones News
By Kelsey Gee
CHICAGO--U.S. live-cattle futures reversed early session losses
to advance Thursday, after surging by the exchange limit for
two-consecutive sessions, as investors bet that demand for beef is
likely to recover in the weeks ahead.
October cattle futures were up 0.5 cent, or 0.4%, to $1.2985 a
pound at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the highest intraday
prices in seven sessions. Most-active December cattle futures rose
0.6 cent to $1.3675 a pound. Feeder-cattle futures for October
recovered 1.2 cents to $1.8615 a pound.
Fears about slack demand for pricy beef in the face of record
pork and poultry production have dragged the cattle market sharply
lower in recent weeks, to a level some investors suspect will
attract bargain-buying. Narrow gains in the beef market reported
this week made some hopeful that cattle prices will soon turn a
corner, fueling aggressive buying on Tuesday and Wednesday. On
Thursday, after a round of profit-taking pushed prices lower at the
start of the session, traders refocused on signs of a steady demand
recovery by midday, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture posted
another modest uptick in the beef market.
USDA Thursday showed wholesale choice-grade beef prices climbing
$1.39 to $204.97 per hundred pounds, the largest increase in weeks.
Select-grade beef prices also increased, to $198.00 per hundred
pounds. Investors seized on the move, which could further widen
margins for beef processors, giving them more incentive to bid
aggressively for cattle in the cash markets in the days ahead.
Hog futures also turned higher, buoyed by buying across the
livestock markets. October hog futures were up 0.35 cent, or 0.5%,
to 74.175 cents a pound. December hogs picked up 0.4 cent to 66.375
cents a pound.
Write to Kelsey Gee at kelsey.gee@wsj.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 08, 2015 12:49 ET (16:49 GMT)
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