Live cattle futures saw weakness into the Wednesday session, as contracts were down $2.10 to $3.77. Open interest was up1,607 contracts, more heavily in the December and February contracts, as October was down 2,954 contracts. Cash trade has yet to get kicked off this week, with a few $224 live bids in the South and $345-348 dressed bids in the North. The Wednesday Fed Cattle exchange online auction showed no sales or bids on the 1,514 head offered. Feeder cattle futures posted $1.80 to $6.72 losses across the board on the session. Open interest rose 2,217 contracts, suggesting some new selling interest. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was back up $1.16 on September 15 to $342.74.
USDA will release their monthly cattle on feed report on Friday, with August Placements seen 3.3% lower and marketings down 4%. September 1 cattle on feed inventory is estimated to be up 1.7% from a year ago.
