LIVESTOCK-Cattle futures rise, consolidating after last week's tumble

By Julie Ingwersen

CHICAGO, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) live cattle futures closed higher on Monday as tight U.S. cattle supplies and firm beef values helped stabilize the market after steep declines in late October, traders said.

CME December live cattle futures LCZ25 settled up 2.525 cents at 232.200 cents per pound. Most-active January feeder cattle FCF26 ended up 4.625 cents at 336.525 cents a pound.

The cattle market tumbled last month on uncertainty over President Donald Trump's push to lower beef prices. But futures have consolidated since hitting multi-month lows last week.

And while cash prices for market-ready cattle declined by about $2 per hundredweight last week compared to the week prior, they remained higher than futures prices, a fact that supported futures on Monday. Cash cattle traded in Texas and Kansas last week at $235 to $237 per cwt.

With December live cattle futures hovering near the equivalent of $232 per cwt, "the discount is just too wide," said Don Roose, president of Iowa-based U.S. Commodities.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Agriculture priced choice cuts of beef on Monday afternoon at $379.25 per cwt, up $1.12 from Friday. Select cuts were up $1.28 at $359.93 per cwt.

The U.S. cattle herd has shrunk to its smallest size in decades after ranchers reduced their herds because a lengthy drought burned up pasture lands used for grazing and raised feeding costs.

In the hog market, CME December lean hog futures LHZ25 settled down 0.675 cent at 80.600 cents per pound, dropping below the contract's 200-day moving average. February hogs LHG26 ended down 0.325 cent at 82.200 cents.

Over the weekend, the White House said that China agreed to suspend all retaliatory tariffs announced since March 4, including duties on U.S. pork and other agricultural products.

China in March had placed a 57% retaliatory tariff on U.S. pork exports. Tariffs will be reduced by 10%, the National Pork Producers Council said in a statement on Monday.