CHICAGO, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures fell sharply for the second day in a row, hitting a four-month low as traders adjusted their expectations for prices to reflect the U.S. government's bigger-than-expected supply view.
"We simply don't need the sow base we currently have or need lower prices to clear the increased production we have coming." brokerage StoneX said in a note to clients.
The benchmark CME December lean hogs futures contract sank 2.275 cents to finish at 69.5 cents per pound. Prices bottomed out at 69.325 cents, the lowest for the December contract since May 30.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture last week, surprised analysts by reporting the average pigs saved per litter reached 11.61 for the June-August period, up about 4.3% from a year earlier. That was above the highest estimate from analysts surveyed by Reuters, who on average expected a 2% increase.
Since the report was released, hog futures have sank nearly 8%.
In CME's cattle markets, most-active November feeders gained 0.8 cent to 255.7 cents per pound. December live cattle rose 0.425 cent to 188.35 cents per pound. (Reporting by Mark Weinraub; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
