By Julie Wernau 

Cattle futures ended higher Monday as higher prices for beef are expected to lure packers to the market at a time when cattle are lean.

CME Live cattle for February rose 1.3% to settle at $1.25375 a pound.

Near-term demand for beef has picked up coming into the month of March with beef prices on the mend at $165.59 per 100 pounds.

"Beef demand has picked up coming into the month of March and showlists are expected to remain very manageable in the coming weeks," Troy Vetterkind, owner of Vetterkind Cattle Brokerage said in a note.

Cash prices for live cattle through Friday were at $124 to $125 per 100 pounds in all regions, a full $5 more than the previous week at a time when carcass weights are down over last year. A report Friday from the USDA showed that cattle-on-feed were up about 1% from a year ago for the slaughter market. The February contract for live cattle is set to expire Tuesday.

In other markets, CME lean hogs for April rose 1.1% to 68.125 cents a pound, the contract's second session of gains driven by a rebound in pork belly prices. Pork belly stocks are down 77% from a year ago and stocks dropped lower last week, surprising some traders and supporting the market.

Dennis Smith, an analyst at Archer Financial, said packers are looking to work the cash hog market lower and are looking to improve margins. While pork bellies have helped support the market, other cuts are piling up. So far cash prices in the market for other cuts have been steady.

Write to Julie Wernau at julie.wernau@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 27, 2017 16:11 ET (21:11 GMT)

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