By Heather Schlitz

CHICAGO, May 29 (Reuters) - Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle and feeder cattle futures ticked down on Friday on a technical setback, while concerns over Americans' ability to afford beef grew.

Steep gas prices and dour consumer sentiment have stoked fears that U.S. consumers will cut back on purchasing beef, which is typically the priciest protein on grocery store shelves.

"They're looking at disposable income from consumers and wondering whether they'll pay higher beef prices," said Dan Basse, president of AgResource Company.

Oil futures fell more than 2% on Friday, closing out their steepest weekly decline since early April as traders awaited word that the U.S., Israel and Iran had reached agreement on a ceasefire. O/R

August live cattle LCQ26 fell 1.95 cents to 239.05 cents per pound, and August feeder cattle futures FCQ26 fell 4.60 cents to 348.425 cents per pound.

For boxed beef, the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday reported that values for choice cuts fell by 26 cents to $392.06 per hundredweight, while select cuts fell by $2.26 to $382.32 per hundredweight.

Packers were losing about $266.90 for each head of cattle they slaughtered on Thursday, an improvement from the previous week, according to HedgersEdge.com.

In CME's lean hog market, July futures LHN26 fell 2.625 cents to 99.50 cents per pound.

The wholesale pork carcass cutout rose 91 cents to $100.02 per cwt, according to USDA.