Chicago Board of Trade soyabean futures closed firm Friday on a pre-weekend technical bounce after the November contract slid more than 25 cents in the past week, traders said.
The nine-day relative strength index for the November contract closed at 27 on Friday, up from 25 on Thursday. An RSI of 30 level or below is one indicator of a technically oversold market.
Strong export interest also helped prices to rebound slightly. "There is a very definite increase in export interest ... that's why we've seen a marked increase in FOB interest in the US," said Roy Huckabay, analyst with The Linn Group in Chicago.
"I think you've got bean business going on in every port in the country that can load stuff. It's happening on the Atlantic it happening on the Pacific its happening at the Gulf," Huckabay said.
November closed 2-1/2 cents per bushel higher at $5.71-1/4 per bushel, and the deferreds were steady to up 2-1/4 cents.
But volume was on the thin before the weekend, with funds buying about 1,000 soyabean contracts. There was little to no pre-weekend harvest hedge pressure, which helped the market from closing lower, traders said.
US Gulf export markets were trying get back to normal after ports were closed by Hurricane Katrina more than two weeks ago. Export terminals and the Port of New Orleans were open this week, but loadings were well below usual. Moving grain to the Gulf also remained slow due to shortage of barges.
Overnight business included Taiwan's purchase of 15,000 tonnes of US soya.
Meteorlogix weather on Friday said there should be no major harvest delays in the Midwest despite some rain late this week. Also, no damaging cold weather was in sight.