U.S. cattle futures dip amid consumer spending worries

Live cattle and feeder cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange fell on Friday as analysts warned that high gas prices and weak consumer sentiment could curb U.S. beef purchases. August live cattle dropped 1.95 cents to $239.05 per pound and August feeder cattle slid 4.60 cents to $348.43 per pound.

The USDA said boxed‑beef prices for choice cuts fell 26 cents to $392.06 per hundredweight, while select cuts fell $2.26 to $382.32. Packers were losing about $266.90 per head, a slight improvement from the prior week. Dan Basse of AgResource noted, “They're looking at disposable income from consumers and wondering whether they'll pay higher beef prices.” In the lean‑hog market, July futures fell 2.62 cents to $99.50 per pound and the pork cutout rose to just over $100 per cwt. Oil futures also fell more than 2 % as markets awaited news of a cease‑fire agreement involving the US, Israel and Iran.