CHICAGO, April 15 (Reuters) - Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures closed higher on Monday on a round of bargain buying after the benchmark June contract fell to a three-month low on Friday.
Rising prices for choice cuts of beef added support while fears over the spread of bird flu in dairy herds hung over the market, capping rallies. The virus has not been detected in beef cattle, but traders worry the infections could threaten demand for beef along with dairy products.
CME June live cattle settled up 2.350 cents at 173.825 cents per pound, after dipping on Friday to 170.250, its lowest level since Jan. 9.
CME May feeder cattle rose 3.800 cents to finish on Monday at 238.0 cents per pound. Feeder cattle drew support as May corn futures on the Chicago Board of Trade fell almost 1%, signaling cheaper feed costs.
The USDA reported the choice boxed beef cutout on Monday afternoon at $300.88 per hundredweight (cwt), up 31 cents from Friday. But select cuts tumbled to $291.34 per cwt, down $4.20 from Friday.
CME lean hog futures closed mixed. The most-active June contract settled up 0.375 cent at 102.450 cents per pound, rebounding after a mid-session dip to 101.075 cents, its lowest since April 1. But July hogs fell 0.5 cent to finish at 103.750 cents.
The USDA priced the pork carcass cutout late Monday at $103.60 per cwt, up $2.40 from Friday. (Reporting by Julie Ingwersen; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
