Chicago Board of Trade soyabean futures closed higher on Thursday on renewed hopes for a US trade deal with China, the world's top soyabean importer, and strong weekly export sales data, traders said. CBOT January soyabean futures settled up 4-3/4 cents at $8.98-1/4 per bushel.
CBOT January soyaoil rose 0.79 cent to settle at 32.23 cents per pound, but January soyameal futures ended down 80 cents at $294.20 per short ton. Grain and oilseed futures as well as crude oil and Wall Street equity markets rose after President Donald Trump said the United States was "very close" to reaching a trade deal with China.
After the CBOT close, Bloomberg TV and Reuters reported that the United States had reached a deal in principle with China. The US Department of Agriculture reported export sales of US soyabeans in the week ended December 5 at 1,175,200 tonnes (old and new crop years combined), above a range of trade expectations for 500,000 to 1,100,000 tonnes.
The USDA reported weekly combined-year soyameal export sales at 257,600 tonnes, in line with expectations, and soyaoil export sales at 30,200 tonnes, above trade expectations.