CBOT soybeans settle lower despite Chinese purchases

Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures settled lower in choppy Friday trading, though news of a run of Chinese purchases of U.S. supplies helped support prices, market analysts said.

• Weakness in the U.S. dollar also helped keep a floor under prices, analysts said. A weaker dollar makes U.S. exports more attractive to overseas buyers.
• Most-active CBOT November soybeans SX26 settled down 1-1/2 cents at $11.76-1/4 per bushel.
• Soyoil futures turned higher, with most-active December soyoil BOZ26 ending up 0.51 cent at 67.88 cents per pound.
• Nearby soymeal futures contracts fell, with most-active December soymeal SMZ26 closing $3.20 lower at $313.40 per short ton.
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed on Friday that exporters sold 238,000 metric tons of U.S. soybeans to China, the agency said in its daily reporting system.
• Investors spent part of the day adjusting positions ahead of next week's key government crop reports. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is set to release its monthly crop supply and demand report on August 12, and will also update its yield, production and harvest acreage numbers for corn and soybeans.
• USDA is expected to peg 2026-27 U.S. soybean production at 4.472 billion bushels, compared with 4.475 billion in July, analysts said. The agency is expected to estimate 2026-27 U.S. soybean ending stocks at 304 million bushels, compared with 310 million in July.
• China has bought at least 10 more cargoes of U.S. soybeans, traders said on Thursday after the markets closed, the latest in a flurry of purchases ahead of President Xi Jinping's expected U.S. visit next month.
• China has bought about 6 million tons so far for delivery in the U.S. crop year that starts on September 1, a U.S. industry source said.