The Chicago Board of Trade soybean market was firm on Thursday, supported by a strong weekly export sales tally reported before the open, traders said. That inspired a round of short covering by speculators, as the market approached oversold technical levels after falling to contract lows on Wednesday and again overnight. March soybeans were 3/4 cent higher at $5.06 per bushel. The deferreds were up 3/4 to 1 cent. ADM Investor Services and Refco each bought 100 to 200 March early, traders said.

The US Department of Agriculture said 570,000 tonnes of US soybeans were sold last week, with China taking nearly half of the total. Exports were above trade estimates for 300,000 to 550,000 tonnes.

The market was nearing oversold technical conditions, with the nine-day relative strength index for March slipping to 35 on Wednesday. Technical traders view an RSI of 30 or less as one indicator of an oversold market.

Soymeal futures were mixed after an early technical bounce following Wednesday's slide to contract lows in several months. A softer tone to the US cash soymeal market this week also weighed.

March soymeal was down 50 cents at $151.70 a ton. March soyoil was up 0.01 cent at 18.95 cents. The back months were steady to up 0.06 cent.

The US Census Bureau said Thursday US soybean oil stocks totalled 1.309 billion lbs. in December, up from its preliminary estimate forecast last month at 1.290 billion lbs. Weekly export data was bearish. The USDA reported US export sales of soyoil from last week were a minus 5,100 tonnes. That compared with trade estimates for a positive 5,000 to 10,000 tonnes. Malaysian palm oil futures closed higher on a technical short-covering bounce.

Copyright Reuters, 2005