Also, noticeable February/April forward positioning put a floor beneath nearby February but tugged at April.

Pork contracts jumped at the start, spurred by leftover short covering, pork cutout's huge surge Wednesday and generally steady to $1 per hundredweight higher terminal market and Missouri direct cash hog values.

But December's widening gap between it and CME's hog index was enough to suppress further buying interest. And the spot-month gradually took back early gains after some midday direct hog market prices came in down more than $1 per hundredweight.

Country hog buyers anticipate mixed cash hog trading for Friday as processors prepare for Saturday's kill that is expected around 240,000 head.

Short covering was behind Wednesday's and early Thursday's run-up with more of the same expected Friday as traders settle accounts before the weekend and on the last trading day of the month.

Market participants are also waiting for Thursday evening's pork cutout release to see whether Wednesday's $3.15 gain was an glitch or a start of an uptrend in wholesale pork demand in spite of aggressive slaughter rates.