Live cattle futures posted Friday gains of $1.42 to $2.50 in the nearbys, as deferred contracts were anywhere from a dime lower to 90 cents higher. Cash trade started slow this week, but got kicked off on Friday, with sales of $183 in the South, a $2-3 improvement on the week, with northern sales improving $2-3 to $184-185. Feeder cattle futures were mixed, with September down 45 cents and other nearby contracts 15 to 65 cents higher. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was back down $1.16 at $243.26 on September 19.
The monthly Cattle on Feed report showed August placements down 1.4% from a year ago at 1.975 million head, in line with estimates. August marketings were also near the average trade guess at 1.818 million head, a 3.55% drop from last year. September 1 on feed inventory was up 0.64%at 11.198 million head.
