Commodities : Pork Futures Prices Rally

Pork futures advanced sharply Wednesday with some hog and belly deliveries setting contract highs on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

On other markets, oil futures slumped again, grains and soybeans moved higher; and precious metals were mixed.

An abrupt turnaround in the cash pork belly market sent futures from limit losses to limit gains before they settled a few points below the 2 cents a pound limit for daily trading.

Hog futures also posted strong gains, with the October contract advancing 1.25 cents a pound. The August contract goes off the board on Thursday, and October will become the lead month, but it currently is at a large discount to cash prices, Stanley noted.

In addition to the October contract playing catch-up, the market was helped by the expection of higher cash prices on Thursday and firmness in the prices of pork products.

While hogs ere soaring, cattle futures were struggling because of a weak cash market, said Philip Stanley, an analyst in Chicago with Thomson McKinnon Securities.

Grain and soybean futures prices closed higher behind a late rally on the Chicago Board of Trade.