Finished cattle futures ended the Friday session with gains of 40 cents to $1.02. June was the strongest and settled at $118. Cash trade remains mostly at $114, although USDA confirmed a few limited sales from $112-$115 on Friday. Dressed sales for the week were mostly $180, with some as high as $182. Feeder cattle futures had late session moves that left the board a nickel to $2.50 higher. The 3/2 Feeder Cattle Index from CME was $137.17, down another 37 cents.

The Commitment of Traders report showed live cattle spec traders were 7,594 contracts less net long. The group was reported at 80,570 contracts net long on 3/2.

Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were lower on Friday. Choice boxes dropped $2.55 to $231.33 and Select boxes were down 83 cents to $220.85. USDA’s estimate for the week’s cattle slaughter through Saturday is 665,000 head through Saturday, up from 649,000 head last year. YTD cattle slaughter trails last year’s pace by 3.5%.

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