LIVESTOCK-CME cattle futures fall on technical reversal

By Renee Hickman

CHICAGO, March 24 (Reuters) - Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures fell on Monday after a technical reversal on Friday, according to analysts. Meanwhile, lean hog futures eased on growing supplies.

CME June live cattle LCM25 ended down 0.625 cent at 202.150 cents per pound.

CME April feeder cattle FCJ25 settled up 0.275 cent at 285.250 cents per pound.

"I think it was technical selling from a poor technical close on Friday," said Don Roose, president of U.S. Commodities.

On Friday, live and feeder cattle futures fell back after multiple days of rallies.

Analysts said economic uncertainty and concerns about consumer demand also sent cattle lower last week, as markets assessed statements by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that the policies of President Donald Trump, including extensive import tariffs, were pushing the U.S. economy toward slower growth and higher inflation.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture released its monthly cattle on feed report after trading ended Friday, which indicated that in February, the number of cattle on U.S. feed lots was down 18% compared with last year. The average trade estimate according to a Reuters poll of analysts was that it would be down 14%.

However, Roose said that by Monday, the numbers from the report were "already digested into the market".

In wholesale values, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported choice cuts of boxed beef rose $1.65 to $327.10 per hundredweight (cwt) on Monday afternoon, and select cuts rose $3.96 to $313.58.

Meanwhile, CME's April lean hog contract LHJ25 also fell, settling down 0.425 cent at 85.700 cents per pound.

"Supplies are larger right now and seasonally, we usually go up into the summer," Roose said of the hogs.

The size of the U.S. hog herd is expected to be about 1.2% bigger as of March 1 than a year earlier, a Reuters survey of analysts showed on Monday, ahead of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's quarterly Hogs and Pigs report. The report is due to be released on Thursday.