Commodities for Thursday, July 25, 1985 : Large Supplies Hurt Cattle

Burdensome inventories continued to pressure cattle futures prices, while live hogs were mixed and frozen pork bellies advanced in trading Thursday on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

The cattle market “continues to be under general pressure due to continued large supplies of fed cattle,” said Tom Morgan, a livestock analyst with Heinold Commodities in Chicago.

While the hog market remains depressed due to abundant supplies, “bellies were higher on ideas that they were oversold and on ideas that movement out of cold storage has picked up” recently, Morgan said.

Lighter slaughter this week has tightened fresh supplies and helped boost belly prices, he said, but there was a lack of follow-through buying of hogs because traders felt that lighter slaughters might be backing up hog stocks.

On other markets, grains advanced in light trading.

Gold and sliver rallied in moderate trading. Traders taking their ques from the dollar’s performance.

Crude Oil was mixed, on talk of a possible $5 import fee, while heating oil and leaded gasoline rallied.