US live cattle futures steady to weak

US hog futures eased on Friday, with ample supplies weighing on prices due to a heavy pace of slaughter this year, reported Reuters. Live cattle futures were steady to weak in range-bound trade, with light activity in the cash market hanging over prices. February lean hog futures dropped 1.15 cents to 75.875 cents per lb, but managed to stay above the 13-month low of 75.6 cents that the front-month contract hit on Thursday. Most-active April hogs dropped 0.55 cent to 86.45 cents per lb. Technical support was noted at the contract's 10-day moving average. For the week, April hog futures rose 0.8%, snapping a string of four straight weekly losses. Hog slaughter has totalled 10.102 million head so far in January, the US Department of Agriculture said on Friday. That was up 2.2% from the same period of 2022. Separately, the USDA reported pork carcass prices at $79.04 per hundredweight (cwt) on Friday morning, $1.42 lower ...