Live cattle futures clawed back their way closer to steady on Wednesday, with contracts closing $1.17 lower to 25 cents higher. Cash trade has yet to get kicked off this week. The Wednesday Fed Cattle Exchange showed no sales on the 952 head offered, with $220 live bids and $349 dressed. Feeder cattle futures saw gains of 37 cents to $1.22 on the day. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was back up 45 cents on September 8 to $327.43.
Tuesday’s Crop Progress report showed the US pasture rating at 18% gd/ex, unchanged on the week prior. The Brugler500 index fell 2 points to 243.