CHICAGO, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures fell on Friday as traders banked profits and squared positions ahead of the weekend as geopolitical turmoil riled energy markets and stoked concerns about beef demand.
Crude oil rallied more than 5% on Friday on the escalating Middle East conflict as the Israeli military called for civilians to leave Gaza City ahead of an anticipated ground invasion.
Hot U.S. consumer prices data, meanwhile, reinforced expectations that interest rates may remain higher for longer to tame inflation.
Rising costs for consumer goods often impacts demand for costlier beef cuts as buyers trade down for cheaper proteins.
"We had some position squaring and profit taking heading into the weekend," said Matt Wiegand, commodity broker for FuturesOne.
"With the big run-up in energy prices today, even though the stock market was mixed, that kind of outside market movement tends to default into livestock selling," he said.
Poor packer margins and lackluster wholesale beef movement further weighed on the market, he added.
CME December live cattle futures settled down 1.050 cents at 186.750 cents per pound. The contract hit overhead technical resistance at its 20-day moving average, but found support at its 50-day moving average.
November feeder cattle futures settled down 2.000 cents at 251.575 cents per pound, while January feeders finished 2.225 cents lower at 252.250 cents.
Lean hog futures were also mostly lower on the day, with the benchmark December contract down 0.600 cent at 69.500 cents per pound.
(Reporting by Karl Plume; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
