--Livestock futures mostly lower after dip in wholesale beef
prices
--Traders searching for signs of demand for pricy beef
--Hog futures pressured by selling across the livestock
markets
By Kelsey Gee
CHICAGO--Prices of U.S. livestock futures were mostly lower
early in the session on Tuesday, as traders searched for signs that
demand is seasonally starting to slump.
October live-cattle prices are down 0.95 cent to $1.5540 a pound
on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Most-active feeder-cattle
futures for October recently slid 0.325 cent to $2.25525 a
pound.
Though production in recent weeks has been reduced by the Labor
Day holiday and tight supplies of market-ready animals, gains in
the wholesale product markets have been restrained, a sign of
lukewarm demand for burgers, steaks and some pork items, analysts
have said. Packers have responded, in turn, by purchasing fewer
cattle in the cash markets, covering for near-term needs, as they
have less incentive to bid aggressively for market-ready animals if
retailers scale back orders for wholesale products.
"Everyone is keeping a close eye on [beef] product movement
because demand is driving the fact that packers are short bought"
on cattle to fill orders for wholesale beef, said Craig VanDyke, an
analyst with Top Third Ag Marketing, an agricultural-advisory firm
in Chicago.
Although Mr. VanDyke suspects prices for cash cattle could hold
steady this week, relatively cheap, abundant feed grains have made
it easier for producers to fatten livestock to heavier weights,
adding more red meat volume to the market in recent weeks.
Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Monday fell 91 cents per
hundred pounds to $249.02, according to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, extending a recent slump from record highs hit earlier
this summer.
Hog futures are also mostly lower, pressured by selling across
the livestock markets and ideas that weights of slaughter-ready
hogs will remain high following a projected record large harvest of
corn and soybeans. Prices for the staple feed ingredients have
fallen to the lowest levels in four years in anticipation of the
bumper crops. October hog futures are down 0.12 cent to $1.0595 a
pound. December hogs are down 1.15 cents, or 1.2%, to 94.70 cents a
pound. Other contracts are all lower.
-Write to Kelsey Gee at kelsey.gee@wsj.com
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