Pork Futures: Most Hogs Gain
CHICAGO - Chicago Mercantile Exchange hogs closed mostly higher Monday on short covering, front-months' oversold chart indicators and spreaders who bought June and sold April.Pork bellies closed moderately lower while the cattle complex gave up considerable ground.
Lean hogs opened contrary to mostly weak calls as bargain hunters keyed in on April through June new contract lows last Friday. Spot-April and nearby-June's oversold Relative Strength Index conditions lured speculative buyers and sent shorts running for cover.
Upward front-month hog momentum at first drafted deferred contracts in spite of electronic-Chicago Board of Trade corn declines that spilled over into the outcry session.
Nevertheless, live hog values lagged as the session progressed which sometimes sparked selling into spot-April and nearby-June upswings. And, a couple of far hog months eventually settled steady to weak amid subsequent limit-down CBOT corn futures.
Country hog buyers look for further cash hog weakness for Tuesday as processors work through ample pre-Good Friday and Easter holiday supplies.