CHICAGO, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) livestock futures were mostly mixed to lower on Friday, on limited technical trading and less-than-robust beef export news ahead of the New Year's holiday.
In some instances, the limited trading caused some unusual results on the day, traders said.
CME's December live cattle futures contract ended the day up 2.475 cents to settle at $173.675 per pound - but just 151 contracts traded on the day.
While CME's May lean hogs settled up 0.075 cent at 81.500 cents per pound - with only 20 contracts traded.
For the weekly exports for the period ended Dec. 21, net beef sales for 2023 were 2,100 metric tons, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported on Friday. Meanwhile, net beef sales for 2024 came in at 11,600 metric tons, with South Korea and China the top buyers.
"Right now, China is having a difficult time getting beef from Brazil because of the Panama Canal shipping issues, which helped the live cattle market a little bit today," said Karl Setzer, partner at Consus Ag Consulting.
Traders said they are expecting the cash cattle trade next week to be higher than this week's levels, as packers are expected to have a shorter production schedule.
CME's most-active live cattle February contract settled down 0.425 cent, at 168.500 cents per pound. CME's most-active March feeder cattle ended the day down 0.025 cent, at 223.100 cents per pound.
CME's most-active February lean hogs settled down 0.475 cent, at 67.975 cents per pound.
U.S. markets will be closed on Monday in observance of New Year's Day. (Reporting by P.J. Huffstutter in Chicago; Editing by Pooja Desai and Diane Craft)
