U.S. lean hog futures rose 3.8% on Monday, notching their biggest daily gain since September, in a technical bounce from the three-week low they hit on Friday, traders said.
“We hit the bottom end of the range so we are just bouncing back,” said Don Roose, president of brokerage U.S. Commodities.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) February lean hogs rose 2.45 cents to 65.675 cents per pound.
The contract found support at the low end of its 20-day Bollinger range before rallying above its 100-day moving average.
Cattle futures ended close to unchanged, with live cattle closing slightly lower after rising for three days in a row. Feeder cattle futures edged higher.
February live cattle futures ended 0.15 cent lower at 113.1 cents per pound. January feeder cattle gained 0.225 cent to 139.95 cents per pound.
Traders were watching for signs of a stabilizing cash market after prices dropped last week.
“The holiday buying is basically done so that is why we belly flopped,” Roose said. “We have to recharge our demand at a lower price.”
The choice boxed beef cutout fell $1.19 to $212.69 per cwt on Monday, while select cuts dropped $3.45 to $192.26 per cwt, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The select cuts were at their lowest since Oct. 30 while the choice cutout figure was the lowest since Nov. 5.
