Chicago Board of Trade soyabean futures closed modestly higher on Thursday on technical buying ahead of key US crop reports due Friday and spillover strength from wheat. CBOT July soyabeans settled up 1-1/2 cents at $9.15-1/2 per bushel while new-crop November ended up 3 cents at $9.24-3/4. Rallies capped by lackluster weekly export sales. The US Department of Agriculture reported export sales of US soyabeans in the latest week at 314,400 tonnes (old and new crop years combined), at the low end of a range of trade estimates for 300,000 to 700,000 tonnes.