Lean hog futures retreated from their weekly highs on Thursday as technical selling outweighed fundamentals. June lean hogs traded $1 lower to close at $108.17 per cwt, hitting the lowest in about three weeks. Prices faced pressure at resistance areas earlier this week, leading to additional selling. Selling took prices below their recent range today, today’s break below the $108.35 area cause additional pressure heading into the weekend and next week.

Meat packers have been more aggressive in their procurement efforts recently. Cash hogs prices have been pushing higher, with the CME Lean Hog Index rising to a four-month high this week. Pork demand has been largely good for the most part, though export sales hit a marketing-year low last week.

Higher energy prices could be pressuring livestock futures. Consumers may feel the pinch and reduce meat demand if the war in Iran spurs real inflation concerns. So far, wholesale pork prices have held above year-ago levels. The USDA’s cutout index was trading 24 cents higher at midday on Thursday at $98.65 per cwt.

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PAST PERFORMANCE IS NOT INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS. FUTURES TRADING INVOLVES SUBSTANTIAL RISK AND IS NOT SUITABLE FOR ALL INVESTORS.