Live cattle futures posted losses of $1.05 to 1.30 on Friday, with nearby August down a nickel. August was still down $4.02 last week. Open interest was down 3,470 contracts, suggesting longs were exiting. Cash trade was at $247-248 across the country, a $7-8 drop from last week. Feeder cattle futures saw losses $1.12 to $1.97 on Friday, with August falling $6.025 on the week. Open interest slipped 854 contracts on Friday. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was back down $4.03 on July 9 to $370.42.
The Friday Commitment of Traders report showed managed money trimming 5,982 contracts from their net long in live cattle futures and options to 113,321 contracts as of Tuesday. In feeder cattle futures and options spec funds were busy cutting back 1,374 contracts from the net long as of July 7 to 13,690 contracts.