CHICAGO, May 23 (Reuters) - Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures rose on Monday, with the front-month contract hitting its highest since April 22, on expectations for a pick-up in demand from top pork consumer China, traders said.
The most-active July hog futures contract ended firm for the sixth time in the last seven sessions, but faced technical resistance at its 30-day moving average.
The nearby June hogs contract added 1.5 cents to 110.375 cents per pound while July futures gained 1.85 cents to 110.85 cents per pound.
"China looking to ease lockdowns short-term potentially stabilizes demand further as herd liquidation slows," brokerage FuturesOne said in a note to clients.
The daily hog slaughter was reported at 473,000 head, down from 479,000 a year ago.
Cattle futures also were firm, with CME June live cattle futures gaining 1.2 cents to 132.775 cents per pound, while the most-active August live cattle rose 1.425 cents to 132.975 cents per pound. CME August feeder cattle ended 1.7 cents higher at 165.625 cents per pound.
Prices for choice cuts of boxed beef were reported at $263.70 per cwt on Monday morning, up 92 cents from Friday afternoon while select cuts rose to $245.18 from $245.03 per cwt, according to U.S. Agriculture Department data.
After the close, USDA said that frozen beef stocks as of April 30 stood at 531.728 million lbs, up 18.5% from a year earlier.
Frozen pork supplies rose to 530.244 million lbs from 456.921 million. (Reporting by Mark Weinraub; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
