By Kelsey Gee 
 

CHICAGO--U.S. cattle futures slid to the lowest levels in three weeks Thursday, giving up gains from the prior session as traders await active trade in the cash markets.

February live-cattle futures slid 2.35 cents, or 1.8%, to $1.30125 a pound on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Cattle futures for April declined 2.275 cents to $1.29525 a pound. Feeder-cattle futures for March declined 0.975 cent to $1.5025 a pound.

Signs of sluggish buying interest for livestock and beef halted a multiweek rally Monday, as investors worry that retailers will continue to balk at higher-priced beef.

Sales in the cash markets throughout the day reported at lower prices compared with last week confirmed concerns about beef demand.

So far, an estimated 20,000 head have been sold in Kansas at mostly $1.33 a pound live, after trade at $1.34 a pound earlier this week. Around 1,000 head in Texas were also sold for $1.33 a pound live.

Beef packers purchased over 20,000 cattle in Nebraska at mostly $2.06 a pound dressed, down four cents from prices most owners fetched in the region last week. Most producers sold their cattle this week on a dressed basis, which accounts for the amount of meat yielded from a carcass, as winter storms in the region have caked mud onto slaughter-ready animals, adding pounds onto their live weight. The live sales that have been reported have ranged widely, from $1.29 to $1.32 a pound, compared with last week's average price of $1.32 ½ a pound live.

"At the end of the day, the cash market is still what matters most" to futures prices, said Craig VanDyke, an analyst with Top Third Ag Marketing, an agricultural advisory firm in Chicago.

Outside markets added further pressure to futures, analysts said, amid fears that weakening global economic growth will make beef seem too expensive for food shoppers in the U.S. and abroad.

Hog futures ended narrowly higher, though that market has remained in a narrow trading range in the past week. February hog futures rose 0.375 cent to 65.525 cents a pound. April hogs were up 1.1 cents to 69.45 cents a pound.

Write to Kelsey Gee at kelsey.gee@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 11, 2016 15:10 ET (20:10 GMT)