U.S. livestock review: Hogs rebounds on equities, firm cash prices

U.S. livestock futures were higher Friday as prices rebounded from Thursday's losses thanks to firm cash markets and a jump in equities.

U.S. lean hog futures also rallied, rebounding from Thursday losses as the market's discount to cash prices gives prices a lift.

CME lean hogs for August ended up 1.475 cents, or 1.6%, at 93.15 cents per pound.

"We had quite a selloff recently in the spot market, and it looks like we were a bit overdone," said John Ginzel, analyst with Linn Group.

The cattle and hogs futures markets will both be closed on Monday for the July 4 holiday weekend.

Cash hog prices were reported steady to down $1 in light trading volume ahead of the Independence Day holiday weekend. Few hogs were offered for sale, and most of the processing plants have sufficient supplies booked for much of next week, according to livestock dealers and market managers.

The latest Dow Jones Newswires pork packer margin index was minus $7.88 per head, compared with minus $11.42 the previous day.

The USDA's pork carcass composite value, a measure of wholesale prices, on Thursday fell 92 cents a hundred pounds to $96.12 a hundred pounds. The terminal markets traded mostly steady with top prices from $66 to $68 a hundred pounds on a live basis.