Soybean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade closed lower on Friday falling to 2-1/2 month lows on technical fund selling and a rallying dollar, traders said. CBOT soy closed 16 cents lower to 1-1/2 higher. May expired quietly at noon and was 16 cents lower at $6.03-3/4. July was down 10-3/4 at $6.12-3/4. Traders said fund selling totalled 10,000 lots. "The strong dollar and the CRB index being down had a hand in it. There was fund selling when the technicals went sour," said Jerry Gidel, analyst for North America Risk Management Inc.
Exports were quiet overnight and a surge in the value of the dollar to 2005 highs on Friday led to renewed concerns about a bit of a dent in future sales of US soy abroad, traders said.
Soy also was weakened technically by the drop on Thursday. Fund selling tied to long-liquidation and profit-taking hit the market Thursday, as did crop-friendly rainfall this week in the heart of the US Midwest soybean growing region.
The rainfall will help boost emergence and growth of the Midwest corn and soy crops but more rain is needed in parts of the east, a private forecaster said on Friday.
"The rains will help and there are no big problems. But the central and southern Illinois area and Indiana could use more rain," said Meteorlogix forecaster Joel Burgio.
Burgio said the portions of the eastern Midwest had been unseasonably dry through the winter and early spring, a scenario that helped deplete subsoil moisture reserves.
Deliveries on the May contract totalled 133 lots. A Tenco customer was the main stopper, taking 84 lots, and registrations with the CBOT were unchanged at 1,377 lots.
Traders said the May contract should expire without fanfare at 12:01 pm CDT (1701 GMT) on Friday.
The preliminary open interest in the contract has been drawn down to a relatively modest 735 lots, which should lead to a quiet expiration, they said.
Cash basis bids for soybeans in the Midwest were steady to firm and farmer selling was slow.
CBOT soymeal closed 80 cents to $2.60 per ton lower. May expired $3.40 lower at $192.00 per ton. July was down $2.60 at $189.40.
Fund selling totalled 6,000 lots.
There were no deliveries on the May contract and preliminary open interest in May was at 671 lots. Registrations with the CBOT were unchanged at 78 lots.
Soyoil futures closed 0.50 to 0.68 cent per lb lower. May expired 0.65 lower at 21.98 cents per lb. July was down 0.55 at 22.22 cents.
Fund selling totalled between 10,000 and 13,000 lots.
Soyoil was pressured by the slide in soy and from the weak close overnight for Malaysian palm oil futures.
Deliveries on the May contract totalled 53 lots. A customer of Triland stopped all of the soyoil. Registrations with the CBOT sagged to 1,218 lots from 1,220.
Preliminary open interest in the May was at 463 lots, which should allow for an orderly and quiet expiration of the May contract at 12:01 pm CDT (1701 GMT).
Traders in Kuala Lumpur said palm oil futures fell amid thin volume as players waited for next week's export estimates for mid-May to give the market some direction.
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