Commodities : Meat, Livestock Up Sharply

Livestock and meat prices posted an abrupt turnaround Wednesday and finished with sharp gains after setting new lows earlier on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Prices fell to life-of-contract lows early in the session as sellers continued to dominate the already weak market.

But analysts said traders who had sold contracts got nervous about their positions when the decline stalled and they hurried to buy back contracts, which led to the sharp rally.

Most livestock prices advanced by the limit of 1 1/2 cents a pound and most pork belly prices advanced by the 2-cent limit. Volume in the cattle pit was very heavy.

Phil Stanley, a livestock analyst in Chicago with Thomson McKinnon Securities, said he doubted futures prices could sustain the strength unless cash prices improve.

Petroleum futures prices fell on the New York Mercantile Exchange with pressure from an inventory survey and a report that Saudi Arabia plans to increase production of crude oil by 4.4 million barrels of gasoline and 3.9 million barrels of distillates. Precious metals prices were slightly higher in lackluster trading on the Commodity Exchange in New York.