
Live cattle futures saw Wednesday trade close with gains of 97 cents to $1.17 in the front months. Cash trade has been quiet so far this week. The Wednesday morning Fed Cattle Exchange online auction showed no sales on the 1,456 head offered and bids at $244-245. Feeder cattle futures posted midweek strength, though futures slipped off midday highs to close with gains of $1.20 to $2.17. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was down 62 cents to $374.79 on February 24.
Cold Storage data from Tuesday afternoon showed a total of 434.9 million lbs of beef stocks as of January 31, down 4.44% from last year but slightly above the previous month.