Pork futures opened mixed as market bulls and bears grasped for fundamental market direction at the start of the week. Futures stabilised and buy orders trickled into the pit after July and August neared 73.50- and- 72.00-cent psychological support levels.

Scale-down front-month hog longs were also encouraged by July's and August's over sold Relative Strength Index conditions and the possibility that diminished hog kills in recent days might prop up sagging pork cut out values.

And, although terminal market cash bids were iffy at best, shorts began covering previously held positions after Iowa/southern Minnesota direct cash hogs were reported up more than $1 per hundred weight.

Nonetheless, board selling into up ticks was common as processors cope with unsatisfactory profit margins that restrict how much they pay for supplies. Floor traders anticipate a mixed cash hog trade today.