Commodities Wednesday, Dec. 3, 1986 : Livestock, Meat Futures Off

Livestock and meat futures declined sharply Wednesday, responding to a very soft cash market.

In some other markets, grain furtures were mostly lower, oil was lower and precious metals were higher.

Pork bellies lost the 2 cents-a-pound limit for daily trading at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Live cattle futures were off more than a cent a pound.

“Cash steers were down 50 cents to $1.00 (per hundredweight) and the dressed trade was very sluggish,” said Walter Kowalski, an analyst in Chicago with Lind-Waldock. “As of noon there were no carcass trades of top-grade beef and that was with the market down 2 cents a pound.”

The boxed beef trade also was weak with an unfavorable profit level. “Packers are not going to operate at a loss,” Kowalski said. “So there’s no buying interest from them.”

It was a similar story for pork futures. “The cash hog market was down as much as $2.25 (per hundredweight) and the dressed trade also was softer,” Kowalski added.