Live cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange closed lower on Thursday ahead of the U.S. Independence Day holiday due to lower boxed beef values and a weakening cash trade, according to analysts.
Markets will be closed on Friday in observance of the holiday.
CME's benchmark August live cattle CME:LE1! futures contract settled down 2.60 cents at 239.225 cents per pound. October cattle CME:LE1! ended 2.425 cents lower at 234.300 cents.
August feeder cattle MYX:FCPO1! finished the day down 3.525 cents at 360.625 cents per pound.
Wholesale beef prices ticked down on Thursday afternoon. The U.S. Department of Agriculture priced choice cuts of beef $3.61 lower at $387.65 per hundredweight (cwt). Select cuts of beef fell $0.49 to $369.20 per cwt.
Hot weather added to expectations of a seasonal slowdown in beef demand.
Cash prices softened over the last week, although they remain historically high, according to an analyst note.
Packer margins remain deeply unprofitable. Livestock marketing advisory service HedgersEdge estimated beef packer losses of $295.20 per head on Thursday, falling even further than Wednesday's losses of $280.25 per head.
Meanwhile, market participants got a surprise on Thursday as the USDA reported a spike in the nation's export sales, even as U.S. beef prices soared and supplies remained tight, fueling doubts about the accuracy of the data.
The beef export sales, reported in weekly USDA data, included deals that may have taken place months ago, contributing to the sudden increase, the agency told Reuters. Traders said the totals still looked excessive.
CME hog futures ended higher, with August lean hogs (LHQ26) settling up 1.700 cents at 98.750 cents per pound.