By Kelsey Gee 
 

CHICAGO--Cattle futures ended the trading session sharply lower on Friday, thrashed by the U.S. dollar's climb on the heels of Britain's vote to leave the European Union.

June live-cattle futures dropped 2.05 cents, or 1.8%, to $1.1470 a pound on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, just shy of a four-year low hit on Monday, and marking a 1.7% decline from the end of last week. Cattle for August slid 2.975 cents to $1.10875 a pound. Feeder-cattle futures for August slid 2.925 cents to $1.3945 a pound.

The WSJ Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies, recently advanced 1.7% as investors piled into safe-haven assets like the dollar, yen and gold.

Fears about swelling supplies of livestock and a downturn in demand for beef drove a dramatic selloff in the cattle market, which showed signs of easing earlier in the week. News of the so-called 'Brexit' quelled hopes for a recovery in prices after futures this week brushed the lowest levels in years.

Investors worry that U.S. beef and pork exports--which make up roughly 10% and 21% of total production respectively--could ease as domestic commodities become more expensive to foreign buyers.

However, analysts noted that a trio of government reports could have a more pronounced impact on livestock futures when trading resumes Monday. The U.S. Department of Agriculture released a monthly cold storage report on stocks of commodities like meat and cheese in commercial warehouses and survey data on cattle numbers in the nation's feedyards on Friday. Also, a quarterly report on the U.S. hog and pig herd showed larger-than-expected supplies currently being raised for pork in barns across the country.

The hog market ended narrowly lower, amid spillover selling from weakness in outside markets.

Front-month hog futures for July fell 0.225 cent to 84.05 cents a pound, down 2.5% from last week's settlement. August hog futures declined 0.475 cent to 84.975 cents a pound.

"Considering how volatile markets around the globe today, I'd consider it a victory that hogs were relatively tame," said Craig VanDyke, an analyst with Top Third Ag Marketing, an agricultural advisory firm in Chicago.

-Write to Kelsey Gee at kelsey.gee@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 24, 2016 16:03 ET (20:03 GMT)