--Cattle futures ease after climbing to recent highs
--Demand caution for historically pricy beef weighs on
futures
--Hog futures pressured by selling across the livestock
markets
By Kelsey Gee
CHICAGO--Livestock futures are mostly lower early in the session
Thursday, pressured by profit-taking as traders trim bets prices
will climb further after the cattle and hog markets rallied this
week to recent peaks.
October live-cattle are down 1.7 cents to $1.5800 a pound at the
Chicago Mercantile Exchange, after Wednesday surging to the highest
intrasession price in history. Most-active feeder-cattle futures
for October recently slid 1.15 cents to $2.2597 a pound.
Investors are booking profits after cattle futures surged to
fresh intrasession highs Wednesday, which has also given way to
technical selling, as market participants assess whether or not
prices have carved out a new ceiling.
Concern that retailers and export buyers may scale back
purchases of historically pricy wholesale beef has also restrained
fresh gains in the cattle market.
"The market ran out of buyers willing to push prices higher,
which causes people to get spooked and take risk off the table,"
said Troy Vetterkind, head of Vetterkind Cattle Brokerage in Thorp,
Wis.
Traders also suspect that wholesale beef prices, too, may
struggle to gain further ground, as, seasonally, demand for red
meat typically eases after Labor Day weekend, a key U.S. sales
period for burgers, steaks, and sausages.
Wholesale beef prices have traded sideways for much of the week,
a sign that grocery stores and restaurants may be struggling to
pass on the higher costs to consumers.
"I don't think packers have been able to sell beef [at prices]
as high as they wanted to this week," said Mr. Vetterkind.
Hog futures are mostly lower, pressured by selling across the
livestock markets. October hog futures recently fell 0.02 cent to
$1.0707 cents a pound. December hogs are down 1.05 cents to 97.60
cents a pound.
Write to Kelsey Gee at kelsey.gee@wsj.com
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