Live cattle futures saw Friday losses of 27 to 62 cents, with the weekly loss taken to $4.70 in December. A few cash sales in the north were reported at $215-219 last week, with most on the higher side of that range, and $222-224 in the South. Feeder cattle futures were $1.20 to $215 lower on Friday after a back and forth session, as January was down $6.32 on the week. Preliminary open interest slipped 1,279 contracts on Friday. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was up $1.44 to $339.72 on November 20.
The monthly Cattle on Feed report from Friday showed the October placement total at 2.039 million head, down 10.02% from last year. Marketings during that month were down 8.02% to 1.697 million head. That took the November 1 on feed number to 11.706 million head, a 2.17% drop from last year and near trade estimates.
