Soyabean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade tumbled early on Friday in a technical breakdown, with November slipping below $5.76-1/2 support and filling a chart gap left open following last week's rally after USDA's crop report, traders said.
The weakness in soyabean oil and worries about waning soyameal demand due to the spread of the deadly bird flu cast a bearish tone. Soyameal is a major poultry feed.
November soyabeans were 11-3/4 cents lower at $5.73-1/4 per bushel by noon CDT (1700 GMT). November slid through nearby support and began filling a day gap chart of $5.76-1/2 to $5.66-1/2 created on October 12 when the government released smaller than expected US soya stocks estimate.
Commercials and commodity funds were sellers. Funds sold about 8,000 lots by the midsession, with Calyon selling 1,500 November, traders said.
Friday is the last trading day and expiration of November soya options. Earlier, traders eyed the $5.80 strike price as an area of possible volatility due to the heavy open interest at the level. But the market quickly moved away from that strike when November slipped through nearby resistance.
Midwest cash basis bids for soyabeans were firmer early Friday as dealers tried to stir more farmer sales.
Ample supplies of US soyabeans and an active crush pace as processors keep crushing cheap soyabeans were also viewed bearish. Recent rains in some of the drier soya production areas of South America added to the early bearish sentiment.
The soya products were weaker. December soyameal slipped below $1.70 for the first time in over a week. December was at $169.10 per ton, down $2.80, with deferreds $1.20 to $2.60 lower. December soyaoil was 0.44 cent per lb weaker at 23.54 cents per lb, with the back months 0.25 to 0.47 lower.