Pork futures opened mostly firm after shorts scrambled to cover positions as trading for December and the end of the quarter winds down. February and April's oversold chart situations also lured prospective buyers.

What's more, higher CBOT corn contracts eventually stirred distant-month hog buying interest.

However near session's end, futures took back a portion of those early gains partly in response to lower cash hog prices.

Also, there is building anxiety before USDA's quarterly hog data that will be released on Thursday after 3 p.m. EST.