Hogs, cattle fall daily limits on coronavirus fears

U.S. hog and cattle contracts fell their daily trading limits on Monday, hitting multimonth lows on fears about the spread of a coronavirus in China. “If we thought China’s coronavirus was making the media rounds late last week, it’s a full-fledged media frenzy this morning,” INTL FCStone said in a note to clients. “The public’s concern there is reminiscent of prior SARS and bird flu events, both of which resulted in slowed Chinese travel, restaurant consumption, and a general slowdown in commerce.” April live cattle futures reached their lowest price since Oct. 23. The contract dropped its daily limit of 3¢, ending at 121.300¢ per pound at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. CME March feeder cattle futures dropped their limit of 4.5¢ to 135.175¢ per pound and touched their lowest level since Sept. 24. CME February lean hog futures fell 1.275¢ to 65.95¢ per pound. The most-active April contract ended down its daily trading limit of 3¢ at 70.450¢, hitting its lowest since Aug. 7. The livestock markets will trade with expanded limits on Tuesday...MORE