Chicago Board of Trade soyabean futures fell on Friday, shruggging off early strength on technical selling and concerns about export demand, traders said.
The most active March contract hit its highest since January 29 early in the session but turned lower after hitting resistance at its 30-day moving average. It has not traded above that key technical point since January 15.
For the week, CBOT soyabeans fell 0.7%.
The US Agriculture Department said early Friday that export sales of soyabeans totaled 497,700 tonnes in the week ended Feb. 13. Analysts' estimates for the weekly total ranged from 600,000 tonnes to 1.2 million tonnes.
Weekly soyameal export sales were 169,400 tonnes, below market forecasts for 200,000 tonnes to 400,000 tonnes.
Export sales of soyaoil were reported at 42,000 tonnes, near the high end of trade estimates that ranged from 15,000 tonnes to 45,000 tonnes.
USDA's Outlook Forum projected US 2020-21 soyabean ending stocks at 320 million bushels, down from 425 million at the end of 2019-20 and the smallest since 2016-17.