Live cattle also closed uneven and most feeder cattle ended moderately higher. Pork bellies finished generally weak.

Pork futures gained sharply at the start, ignited by Thursday's considerable pork cutout price rise and shorts who scrambled to cover positions.

Higher cash hog quotes contributed to advances along with fund buying after futures breached key psychological resistance barriers.

At one point, deferred hog contracts bobbed above negative trading territory after Chicago Board of Trade corn rallied from overnight lows. But hog futures later folded when traders "blew out" of some of their spreads and CBOT corn faded from morning highs.

Country hog buyers forecast steady to firm cash hog bids for Monday as processors string together numbers for next week's kill schedule.