Pork futures slipped on the open after short-term longs claimed profits after Wednesday's board rally. Futures followed the path of lease resistance after early terminal market hog prices were quoted down as much as $3.50 per hundredweight.

However, February and April floated up from morning lows, and at times bobbed above negative territory, with the aid of pre-weekend short covering. Also, speculators were determined to keep February and April from falling below key psychological support at 59.50 and 65.00 cents, respectively.

Nevertheless, buying interest dried up in the face of this week's anticipated record hog kill and talk that packers have supplies booked through the rest of the week. What's more, several plants are scheduled to be idle Monday for Christmas Eve.

Those in the hog pit who also trade cattle exercised caution before USDA's cattle survey. And, there is a tinge of nervousness among hog players before the federal government releases the monthly cold storage figures Friday at same time as the cattle data.

Analysts' average projection for belly stocks for November is 37.6 million pounds based a range from 35.209 million to 41.0 million pounds. Ham forecasts were 88.0 million to 95.0 million pounds. And, total pork inventory for last month was estimated around 489.8 million pounds.