LIVESTOCK-Cattle futures end lower in consolidation; cash trade awaited
CHICAGO, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures closed lower on Tuesday, consolidating after Monday's bounce as the market waited for fresh direction from the cash cattle market, analysts said.
CME October live cattle futures LCV25 settled down 1.150 cents on Tuesday at 233.450 cents per pound and December live cattle LCZ25 ended down 1.125 cents at 235.150 cents.
October feeder cattle FCV25 fell 0.200 cent to settle at 354.300 cents per pound.
Tight U.S. cattle supplies and consumer demand for beef continue to provide fundamental support for cattle futures. But commodity funds already hold a sizable net long position in the market, leaving prices prone to bouts of long liquidation.
Cash cattle markets were quiet on Tuesday after trading last week at around $240 per hundredweight (cwt).
Given a seasonal slide in beef prices as the summer grilling season winds down, some traders last week thought that cash prices for slaughter-ready cattle could fall this week. But Monday's rally in futures raised expectations.
"We went from last week thinking it (cash trade) was going to be lower this week, and now maybe steady-higher," said Don Roose, president of Iowa-based U.S. Commodities.
In the beef market, the U.S. Department of Agriculture priced choice cuts on Tuesday afternoon at $392.62 per cwt, down $5.91 from Monday and the lowest reading since August 13.
Ahead of Friday's monthly USDA Cattle on Feed report, analysts surveyed by Reuters on average expected the government to report the number of cattle in U.S. feedlots as of September 1 at 11.097 million head, down 0.9% from a year ago.
Analysts on average estimated that the number of cattle placed into feedlots during August would be down 9% from a year earlier and marketings were seen down 12.8% from a year ago.
CME lean hog futures ended lower on Tuesday, retreating from early advances. The October contract LHV25 settled down 0.150 cent at 97.375 cents per pound, falling after setting a life-of-contract high at 98.900 cents. December hogs LH25 ended down 0.625 cent at 88.225 cents.
On Tuesday afternoon, the USDA priced the hog carcass cutout at $112.28 per cwt, down $1.79 from Monday.
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