US soybean futures ended sharply higher on Thursday, up 3.17 percent for spot May on the day, reversing Thursday's steep fund-led sell-off in grains, traders said. May soybeans ended the week up 0.9 percent and ended the month down 1.2 percent. Gains were fuelled by short-covering and new buying, one analyst said. A weaker US dollar and firm crude oil prices further underpinned soy.
An analyst also suggested that a drier near-term weather forecast for the north-west area of the Corn Belt took some pressure off soy. Prolonged wet weather over the next two weeks could eventually force some farmers to switch to soybeans from corn, she noted.