Pork Futures Close Higher; Wheat, Soybeans Rise

CHICAGO (AP) — Pork futures gained Friday morning on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange amid easing worries over the swine flu outbreak.

Experts say you cannot catch the disease from eating pork, but multiple countries have banned pork from swine flu-struck regions, which prompted selling in hog futures most of this week.

June lean hogs rose 1.6 cents to 66.10 cents a pound, while July pork bellies gained 2.3 cents to 77.4 cents a pound.

Agriculture futures mostly traded higher on the Chicago Board of Trade.

Wheat for July delivery jumped 17.5 cents to $5.54 a bushel, while July corn gained a penny to $4.05 a bushel and July soybeans advanced 1.5 cents to $10.57 a bushel. Oats for July delivery were unchanged at $2.03 a bushel.

Meanwhile, beef futures fell on the Mercantile Exchange.

June live cattle lost 0.10 cent to 82.4 cents a pound, and August feeder cattle fell 0.17 cent to 99.45 cents a pound.