CHICAGO: US soy fell over 1 percent on Thursday, dropping for the fourth straight day due to profit taking, unwinding of soy/corn spreads and harvest pressure.
Soybeans were also pressured by concern over demand from China, the world's top buyer of the oilseed, after its growth slowed for the third straight quarter.
"There is harvest pressure, we've pretty much harvested 80 percent of the US soybean crop in three weeks," said Jerrod Kitt, analyst for The Linn Group, a Chicago trade house.
"There are concerns over reports China has booked a lot of their needs and would back off their buying of beans."
Overall good harvest weather continues in the US Midwest with the exception of soggy conditions in the eastern regions including much of the northern Ohio River Valley, an agricultural meteorologist said on Thursday.
"Most of the Midwest is OK but there was a lot of rain in the eastern Corn Belt, especially in Ohio, Michigan and eastern Indiana," said Andy Karst, meteorologist for World Weather Inc in Kansas City, Missouri.
Corn and wheat futures posted tentative gains as investors watched developments in Europe's debt crisis amid doubts over a deal to further strengthen the region's rescue fund.
"Outside concerns, continued concerns about the European debt crisis, is keeping everyone cautious. There is really nothing fundamentally to counter that right now," said Shawn McCambridge, analyst for Jefferies Bache.
Macroeconomic indicators were choppy as investors remained on edge after a report the German government had not ruled out a postponement of a weekend European Union summit that some had been banking on to help resolve the euro zone debt crisis.
At 12:03 p.m. CDT (1703 GMT), CBOT November soybeans were down 13-3/4 cents at $12.11-1/2, December corn was up 3-1/2 cents at $6.42 and wheat for December delivery was up 1-1/2 cents at $6.21.
The dollar was up 0.27 percent, New York crude oil was down $1.26 per barrel, and the Dow was down 48 points. Gold tumbled over $37 per ounce.
Long liquidation and profit-taking dragged on the soybean market, while corn showed life on good demand, firm cash markets, and slow farmer selling despite active harvest of the US crop.
The CBOT November soybean/CBOT December corn spread gained 71-1/2 cents per bushel last week with soy outracing corn to the upside, and has given back 37-1/2 cents since then.
"More than anything, they're (traders) looking for direction. Export sales of corn were good but when you take out the amount that was known there was nothing to get excited about," McCambridge said.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Thursday said US corn exports last week hit a seven-month high largely due to nearly a million tonnes sold to China. However, the USDA announced the sale last week so the deal was already factored into the corn futures market.
The total sales of US corn last week, while large, were below analyst and trader expectations.
Wheat and soybean export data also was unremarkable, but the wheat market managed to stay flat to firm on short-covering.
CBOT wheat has been loaded with short sellers and some of those positions were being bought back, leading to a relatively mild short-covering bounce.
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