USDA's quarterly hog report will be released on Thursday after 3 p.m. EST. The following are analysts' estimated averages and ranges, compared with a year ago, in percentages for the top three categories:

Profit-taking after Thursday's board climb deflated pork futures following the opening bell. As much as $2 per hundredweight lower early cash hog prices added to the bearish market mood that was made worse by skittishness before the report.

February and April also recoiled after they encountered 10-day moving average technical resistance. And, struggling CBOT corn futures dampened far-month lean hog buying interest.

Globex hog traders will be the first to respond to USDA's hog outcome which worries those who trade hogs on the floor of the exchange. Pit traders, who aren't familiar with how to read the data, may be heavily influenced by electronic hog's reaction, a broker said.

Source: FXstreet.com