March 24, 2006

 

CBOT Soy Outlook on Friday: Up 1-3 cents following e-CBOT, technicals

 

 

Soybean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were called to open up 1-3 cents per bushel Friday following firm overnight trade on a technical bounce from this week's losses, brokers said.

 

Gains were expected to be limited by the building South American soy harvest, improved U.S. planting prospects, concerns about the spread of bird flu globally and forecasts for a record 2005-06 U.S. soybean carryover also continued to weigh on CBOT soybean futures.

 

In overnight screen trade, the e-cbot May soybean contract settled up 1 1/2 cents at $5.76 1/4 a bushel. May soymeal ended up 50 cents a short tonne at $174.40, and May soyoil closed down 0.13 cent at 22.90 cents a pound.

 

First resistance for CBOT May soybeans was seen at $5.78 3/4 - Thursday's high - and then at $5.82 - this week's high. First support was seen at $5.73 1/4 - Thursday's low - and then at $5.71 1/4 - this week's low-and then at $5.70.

 

Mostly steady to firm U.S. Midwest cash soybean basis bids Friday should also be supportive, brokers said.

 

Spot cash soybean bids were up 4 cents in Evansville, Ind., up 3 cents in Sioux City, Iowa, and up 2 cents in St. Louis, Mo., according to cash sources Friday.

 

A higher close in soy futures at China's Dalian Commodity Exchange on bargain hunting was also deemed supportive to CBOT soy futures on Friday, brokers said.

 

They noted the market seemed impervious to news of Shanghai's first suspected human death from bird flu. A 29-year-old migrant worker who died from an unidentified type of pneumonia on Tuesday in Shanghai may have succumbed to bird flu virus, the official Xinhua News Agency reported late Thursday, citing the Shanghai Municipal Health Department.

 

The benchmark September 2006 soybean contract rose RMB8 to settle at RMB2,682 a metric tonne; September 2006 soymeal rose RMB10 to settle at RMB2,286/tonne; and September 2006 soyoil settled RMB19 higher at RMB5,171/tonne.

 

In Malaysia, crude palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives ended slightly higher with the benchmark June CPO contract ending at MYR1,453 a metric tonne, up just MYR2 from Thursday, bouncing between a tight MYR1,449-MYR1,460/tonne range.

 

In Rotterdam, spot soybean and soymeal prices were weak Friday, cash sources said.