Lean hog futures closed mostly higher as well, the lone lower month being spot April. Bellies finished mixed, with May and July lower while thinly traded August was up 10 points.

The early selling in the live cattle and feeder cattle pits was tied to long liquidation and some commercial hedge selling, a broker said.

As grain markets subsided, selling interest in CME feeder cattle and live cattle futures markets declined as well, and the market was allowed to move higher again, brokers said. This support spilled over into the live cattle pit, and prices there began to rebound, starting with the nearby positions.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture late in the morning reported higher boxed beef cutout values, and this may have helped support a rally that was already starting in the live and feeder cattle pits, a broker said. However, the news may have been expected by traders because there was little noticeable reaction when the report was published.

Many fundamental traders also expect cash cattle prices in the Plains this week to be up from last week, traders said. Cash prices already are at their highest point since December 2003 just before the U.S.'s first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease, was reported.

But that may worry some traders who look at the cash and futures market relationship and see that the second-highest cash prices ever couldn't generate futures prices that were even a match for early March levels in the June futures contract.

Technically, support held at the 50% retracement of the March 8 to 28 price slide, a broker said.

At the close, April live cattle were at 100.90 cents per pound, up 45 points, and June was at 96.70, a gain of 37 points. April feeder cattle were up 77 points at 111.90 cents, while May was up 90 at 112.75.

Source: FX STREET