CME cattle trade mixed on positioning, equities pullback

June 8 (Reuters) - CME live cattle futures traded mixed early Friday,
featuring positioning before the weekend and pressure amid persistent European
debt crisis worries.
* Live cattle futures' discount to cash cattle prices and strong wholesale
beef values attracted buying into market breaks.
* "Fundamentally, we're in good shape but can't get out from under the thumb
of Europe," a CME live cattle trader said.
* Hog futures turned lower on profit-taking and weaker wholesale pork prices.

LIVE CATTLE - At 8:30 a.m. CDT (1330 GMT), June was down 0.075 cent
at 119.275 cents per lb, with August up 0.025 cent at 120.450 cents.
* Futures remained underpriced based on cash prices in Texas and Kansas up
$1 per cwt compared with last week at $122. Dressed cattle in Nebraska traded $1
per cwt higher at $195 with no live-basis sales reported.
* Retailer interest in beef for post-Memorial Day grilling and pre-Father's
Day promotions again lifted wholesale choice beef prices and packer margins.
* "We still have a few more cattle left to buy and there is no reason to
believe they'll move lower, given packer margins and what's happening on the
meat side," an analyst said.

FEEDER CATTLE - August was down 0.125 cent at 158.975 cents per lb
with September down 0.075 cent to 160.125 cents.
* Profit-taking and periodic live cattle market declines undercut feeder
cattle futures.

LEAN HOGS - June was down 0.450 cent at 92.625 cents per lb, with
July down 0.625 cent at 92.700 cents.
* Pork processors raised bids for hogs late Thursday. But some believe that
could change soon based on unprofitable packer margins and tepid wholesale pork
demand.
* "These guys (packers) have been cutting in the red for some time and
they'll have to reduce kills and cash bids to get them (margins) back in line,"
a CME hog trader said.

(Reporting by Theopolis Waters in Chicago; editing by John Wallace)