Live cattle futures posted gains of $1.05 to $1.42 last week, as nearby October was down 20 cents. Open interest was up 722 contracts on Friday. The nearby contract still held on for a $2.95 gain last week. Cash trade was reported at $345-350 dressed in the North, with $222-223 live sales. Feeder cattle futures saw strength to close the week, with contracts $1.17 to $3.90 higher at the close. October was $11.425 higher last week. OI roase 1,117 contracts on Friday, suggesting new longs were coming in. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was $1.72 on September 24 to $338.79.
Cold storage data from Friday showed August 31 beef stocks at 407.12 million lbs, a 5.16% increase from a year ago and 2.22% above the revised (15.5 million lbs high) July total.
