Soyabean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade rallied on Friday as the market was technically strong after climbing about 11 cents in the past week, traders said.
"We do have dry conditions in South America and wet conditions in parts of Brazil, so it's in the back of people's minds to watch it ... but I think they just wanted to take out that contract high," said one CBOT trader. March broke through nearby resistance at $7.28 within the first 15 minutes of trade, reaching $7.29 before backing down and failing to take out the contract high of $7.32 in March.
Man Financial bought 2,000 March, traders said. March soya was up 2 cents at $7.23-1/2 per bushel by 10:50 am CST (1650 GMT). The back months were up 1 to 3 cents.
Soya was gaining on corn again on Friday, continuing this week's move which reversed the recent trend as corn climbed to a 10-year high in January.
A mix of factors contributed to the reversal, including a huge net long speculative position in corn, worries that dryness in Argentina could take the top end off that country's soyabean crop, and strength in the products as end-users covered short positions.
The products were also firm. March soyaoil was up 0.12 cent at 29.70 cents per lb, with the back months up 0.05 to 0.09. March soyameal was 40 cents higher at $208.30 per ton, with deferreds up 30 cents to $1.50.