Soyabean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were sharply lower early on Friday, pressured by the recent improvement in US Midwest crop weather and forecast for more rain this weekend, traders said.
September soyabeans fell below $6 per bushel for the first time since late February - down 10-3/4 cents at $5.99 by 10:55 am CDT (1555 GMT). New-crop November was 11-1/4 lower at $6.09 - dropping below its 200-day moving average of $6.15-3/4 to $6.04-1/4.
Funds were liquidating longs, with Cargill Investor Services among the sellers of November, traders said. Soyabeans benefit from August rains as they set and fill pods, enhancing yield potential.
Scattered showers moved through the Midwest on Thursday and additional rainfall was expected in parts of the crop region on Friday and Saturday, said Meteorlogix weather. Rainfall of 0.25 to 0.75 inch was forecast for much of the belt.
Some underpinning stemmed from technically oversold conditions, with the nine-day relative strength index for November hovering at 20 on Friday. An RSI of 30 or below is one indicator of a technically oversold market. The soyameal and soyaoil markets were pressured by the weakness in soyabeans. September soyameal was down $3.90 per ton at $187.00, with the deferreds down $1.80 to $3.80. September soyaoil was down 0.23 cent at 22.28 cents per lb, with the back months 0.10 to 0.30 weaker.
Softer US cash soyameal markets were also bearish. Soyameal supplies were seen increasing after several US processors in the western belt resumed crushing this week after recent downtime time.