CHICAGO, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures stormed to their highest levels in about eight weeks on Thursday amid follow-through buying, traders said.
The markets extended gains after rising to November highs on Wednesday, following severe winter weather that reduced slaughtering and slowed weight gains for farm animals.
Meatpackers slaughtered an estimated 121,000 cattle on Thursday, up from 120,000 a week ago and 119,316 cattle a year ago, as processing recovered from recent disruptions caused by cold and snow.
Traders said cattle are lighter, though, after the feed they consumed went toward keeping them warm instead of making the animals grow bigger.
Most-active CME April live cattle futures ended 2.025 cents higher at 177.650 cents per pound and hit the highest price since Nov. 22. The front-month February contact jumped by 1.725 cents to close at 174.825 cents per pound and reached its highest price since Nov. 24.
March feeder cattle finished up 2.775 cents at 232.550 cents per pound and hit its highest price since Nov. 20.
Traders on Friday will review monthly Cattle on Feed data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that analysts expect will show placements of cattle into U.S. feedlots in December fell by 4.6% from the previous year.
Placements increased by 6% from the previous year in September and by 4% on the year during October, USDA data show, as dry conditions had reduced the amount of pasture available for grazing last autumn.
"Placements have obviously cooled after a big fall, and January's will be expected to be down sharply as well due to the weather problems we've had," broker StoneX said.
The USDA is separately slated to issue weekly U.S. export sales data on grains, beef and pork on Friday.
CME February lean hog futures finished down 0.350 cent at 71.100 cents per pound. April hogs rose 0.475 cent to 78.450 cents. (Reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
