US soyabean futures ended lower on Wednesday, dipping in the final minutes on liquidation as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke began his first-ever press conference, traders said. CBOT May soyabeans were 4-3/4 cents lower at $13.78 a bushel. Soy prices had firmed late in the day along with crude oil futures and a slightly weaker US dollar, but gave up those gains in the final minutes of trading.
Trade had been quiet ahead of the Fed chairman's comments. The Federal Open Market Committee, the policy-making arm of the Fed, earlier announced it would leave US rates unchanged. Spot basis offers for soymeal were steady to firm in the US Midwest on Wednesday as more ingredient brokers rolled their quotes to the July futures contract, cash dealers said. The US Census Bureau is scheduled to release US March soy crushing data on Thursday, and the average crush estimate among analysts surveyed by Reuters was 139.27 million bushels, up from 129.44 million in February.