Meanwhile, live cattle posted a rally of their own with October through April sharing new contract high honors. And, feeders settled up slightly and also registered September through November contract highs.

Lean hogs wobbled during most of the session buffeted by dueling cash prices and various spread stratifies as participants settled accounts on the final trading day of the month.

Also, traders who were leery about near-by October's price-premium comparedwith spot-August at times sold into rallies. On the other hand, the possibility that China might need pork before the end of year was too much for speculative longs to pass up.

However, by session's end, market bulls and bears alike wondered whether the day's rally was justified given questionable calculated packer profit marginsand October's overbought Relative Strength Index conditions.