Commodities for Monday, July 22, 1985 : Cattle, Hog Prices Hit Lows

Cattle and hog futures prices fell Monday in moderate trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, hitting contract lows due to negative fundamentals plaguing the market for weeks--plentiful supplies and low cash prices.

Cash cattle and hog prices were both lower, discouraging traders who were already in a selling mood in anticipation of negative figures in government-inventory reports released after the close of trading, said Philip Stanley, a livestock analyst with Thomson McKinnon Securities in Chicago.

“Bearish psychology is just running rampant on the floor. All the buyers are gone,” he said, adding that the market hasn’t felt such negative sentiment for at least six years.

There may be a glimmer of hope in the USDA reports showing fewer cattle on feedlots this year than traders had expected and more cattle brought to slaughter, Stanley said.

The market’s reaction to the reports should be an indication of the course it runs in weeks to come, he said.

Petroleum, precious metals and soybean futures prices advanced while wheat and corn were mixed.