Commodity Blog

Hog futures gained today on the speculation that the supply of animals isn’t enough to meet the rising demand for pork. The grilling season is approaching, yet the supplies of the U.S. meat-packers are dwindling. The reason for this undersupply is the cuts of the breeding herds, made by the U.S. farmers to lower the losses because of the high feed costs and the recession. June futures for hog settlement gained $0.00675 (0.8 percent) to $0.8465 per pound by 9:53 on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Wheat prices advanced for the second day after the speculators unwind bets for the falling price as the grain hasn’t fell below the key technical indicators. Some speculative investors, who had sold contracts in a bet on lower prices, have started buying back futures to liquidate positions. The price went up after wheat hasn’t continued its drop below the 10-day moving average of $4.7625 per bushel. July futures for wheat delivery advanced $0.08 (1.7 percent) to $4.885 per bushel as of 10:28 on CBoT.

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