LIVESTOCK-CME cattle futures climb on firmer cash markets

By Julie Ingwersen CHICAGO, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) cattle futures climbed on Thursday to their highest levels since late October following a jump in cash prices for slaughter-ready cattle, brokers said. Cash cattle traded in Kansas, Texas and Nebraska at $230 per hundredweight (cwt), traders said, up about $5 from last week. Strength in Wall Street equity markets lent support, bolstering optimism about consumer demand for meat. The Dow hit a record high on Thursday as investors rotated into value stocks after a Federal Reserve policy update on Wednesday was less hawkish than expected. “Technically-driven buying (was) a secondary factor along with Fed rate cut,” said Doug Houghton, an analyst with Brock Associates, on Thursday’s strength in cattle futures. CME February live cattle (LCG26) settled up 2.425 cents at 230.950 cents per pound after reaching 231.775 cents, the contract’s highest since October 29. CME January feeder cattle (FCF26) ended up 5.025 cents at 343.400 cents per pound. The market shrugged off pressure from declining wholesale beef prices and a drop in meat packers’ profit margins. The U.S. Department of Agriculture priced choice cuts of beef at $358.11 per cwt, down $1.25 from Wednesday, and select cuts fell $1.42 to $343.46 per cwt. (LIV/H) Denver-based livestock marketing advisory service HedgersEdge.com calculated that beef packers were losing $32.05 per head of cattle as of Thursday. Margins had climbed sharply last month and peaked at $163 per head by December 2, before cooling and falling back into negative territory this week. Hog futures rose more than 2% as cash hog prices and wholesale pork values rose. CME benchmark February lean hog futures (LHG26) settled up 1.750 cents at 84.175 cents per pound. The USDA priced pork carcasses on Thursday afternoon at $98.84 per cwt, up $1.57 from Wednesday and the highest level since November 10.