Live cattle futures surged on Tuesday, with contracts closing $3.60 to $5.95 higher amid new buying interest that added 4,735 contracts. Cash trade has yet to develop this week after ranging mostly $255 to $258 last week, while feeder cattle futures rallied $5.32 to $6.87 across most contracts. The CME Feeder Cattle Index rose $1.33 to $364.00 on June 12. Wholesale boxed beef prices climbed in the Tuesday afternoon report, with Choice boxes up $4.53 to $399.58 per hundredweight and Select 44 cents higher at $376.85, narrowing the Choice-Select spread to $22.73. Traders now look to Wednesday’s activity and Thursday’s USDA Cattle on Feed report, where May placements are expected down 5.5% from a year ago, marketings seen down 10.6%, and June 1 on-feed totals projected 2.5% larger than last year.