U.S. livestock review: Lean hog futures rise

Lean-hog futures also rose Friday as stronger wholesale pork prices and signs of smaller pork inventories helped the complex recover much of Thursday's big losses.

October hog futures rose 0.45 cent, or 0.5%, to 88.82 cents a pound in trading at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. CME December hog futures rose 1.72 cents, or 2.1%, to 83.72 cents a pound.

Wholesale pork prices, which were reported after markets closed Thursday, gained 1.46 cents to $97.50 a hundred pounds.

A USDA cold-storage report showed pork supplies in the nation's freezers fell 3% during August. Some analysts say the decline points to continued strong export demand for U.S. pork.

Cash hog bids were reported steady to as much as $1 a hundred pounds lower. Most pork processing plants have sufficient supplies through the middle of next week or beyond.

Some livestock dealers and managers hold cautious views for cash prices next week on seasonal expansion of animals available for slaughter.

Analysts had projected this week's slaughter would be around 2.285 million head, or 4% above a year ago. The USDA estimated the week's total at 2.289 million.

The latest Dow Jones Newswires pork packer margin index was plus $12.14 per head, compared with plus $6.96 the previous day.

The terminal markets traded steady with top prices from $60 to $65 a hundred pounds on a live basis.

The USDA's pork carcass composite value, a measure of wholesale prices, on Thursday was up $1.46 at $97.51 a hundred pounds.