Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures turned up slightly on Thursday, supported by short-covering as investors squared positions during the final session of the quarter, traders said.
* At 9:07 a.m. CDT (1407 GMT) April was up 0.100 cent per lb at 132.450 cents, and June was 0.200 cent higher at 123.275 cents.
* Still, future's recent retreat and seasonally tepid wholesale beef movement fueled expectations for weaker prices for unsold cash cattle by Friday, said traders.
* The afternoon's wholesale choice beef price on Wednesday sank $3.19 per cwt from Tuesday to $221.87. Select cuts tumbled $4.16 to $212.68, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.
* On Wednesday, a small number of market-ready, or cash, cattle in Texas brought $134 per cwt, $2 lower than last week. Other sellers there and elsewhere in the U.S. Plains are asking $138.
ADVERTISEMENT
* Last week, U.S. Plains cash cattle generally traded at $136.
* On Thursday, the government's export report for the week ended March 24 showed U.S. beef sales at 28,400 metric tons, a marketing year high. The biggest increase was for Japan of 16,000 metric tons.
* The USDA will issue the annual planting intentions and quarterly grain stocks reports at 11 a.m. CDT (1600 GMT). Analysts polled by Reuters expected increased U.S. sowings of corn and soybeans.
* FEEDER CATTLE - April was 0.650 cent per lb higher at 153.225 cents, on short-covering.
* LEAN HOGS - Spot April was down 0.050 cent per lb to 68.875 cents, and May was 0.225 cent lower at 77.050 cents.
* CME lean hog futures felt pressure from their premiums to the exchange's hog index for March 28 at 64.93, traders said.
* Wednesday's firm market fundamentals minimized losses, they said.
* Government data on Wednesday showed the afternoon average cash hog price in Iowa/Minnesota up 19 cents per cwt from Tuesday to $62.87.
ADVERTISEMENT
* The afternoon wholesale pork price on Wednesday jumped $1.27 per cwt from Tuesday to $77.59, the USDA said.
* Some packers needed hogs for this week, especially plants that were closed on Easter Monday and will make up the downtime on Saturday, an analyst said.
* He said supermarkets are preparing to feature pork in early April for spring grilling demand.
* Thursday's weekly government export data showed U.S. pork sales at 24,500 metric tons, mainly to Mexico, compared with 19,300 metric tons in the previous week.
