Chicago Board of Trade soyabean futures firmed on Friday on a technical bounce. Strength in the cash market lent additional support to soya futures. Buying accelerated after the benchmark CBOT May soyabean futures contract broke through technical resistance at its 10-day moving average. The May contract closed above that key technical point for the first time since Feb. 25 after briefly topping the 20-day moving average.
Soyameal futures also firmed, notching their fourth straight day of gains as the benchmark May contract broke through resistance at its 20-day and 30-day moving averages. Resistance was seen at the contract's 40-day moving average. But soyaoil futures weakened, hitting a seven-week low on their third straight day of declines.
For the week, soyabean futures were up 1.5 percent, soyameal futures were up 2.3 percent and soyaoil futures dropped 0.6 percent. The National Oilseed Processors Association on Friday said that its members processed 154.498 million bushels of soyabeans last month, down from 171.630 million bushels in January but up from 153.719 million bushels in February 2018, the previous record for the month. The crush pace was below market forecasts.