Live cattle futures failed to hold into the early gains on Thursday, with beef pressure pushing things 5 to 55 cents lower into the close. Preliminary open interest was up 2,711 contracts. Cash trade saw very light $225 Southern action reported early this week, with bids on Thursday at $223-227. A few northern trades were tallied at $235. The Thursday morning Fed Cattle Exchange online auction from Central Stockyards, showed no sales on the 928 head, with bids of just $220-221. Feeder cattle fell off the early session gains after a gap higher, but bulls still fought off midday pressure to close with 80 cent to $1.20 gains. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was up $5.08 to $321.84 on July 9.
Export Sales data showed 11,566 MT of beef sold in the week of July 3. The top buyer was Japan at 4,000 MT, with South Korea buying 3,800 MT. Export Shipments were 14,051 MT. South Korea and Japan were the top destinations of 4,500 MT.
