US: Live cattle futures fall on consumer demand questions on the CME

Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) live cattle futures fell on Wednesday as boxed beef cutout values turned lower ahead of the US Labor Day holiday on September 2, when many Americans light up their grills, Reuters reported, citing traders. Feeder cattle futures ended the day mixed. A heat wave across a large swath of the US offered some support to cattle futures, as the animals typically eat less and gain weight slower when the weather turn hot, traders said. Still, it was weakness in wholesale beef prices that weighed heavily on the cattle market, eroding gains from the previous day's rally. Choice boxed beef prices declined by $2.02 to $309.95 per hundredweight (cwt) and select cuts declined by 56 cents to $299.69 per cwt, US Department of Agriculture data showed on Wednesday morning. Most-active CME October live cattle closed down 0.775-cent at 178.625 cents per pound. Most-active CME October feeder cattle finished up 0.200-cent at 238.575 cents per pound. Meanwhile, lean hog ...