Soybean futures fall amid light trading

Soybean futures fall amid light trading

	Published : Mon, 31 Dec 2007 19:30 By : Agencies Print this Story

NEW YORK (AP) - Soybean futures fell in light trading Monday, the last day of the year, but prices were expected to continue their overall rise in 2008 to meet growing demand in China.

Gold prices dipped but still headed toward a seventh straight annual gain, boosted by investor concerns over Middle East instability and a weak U.S. dollar. Oil prices also traded lower, marking a quiet end to a record-breaking year.

Soybean prices hit a 34-year high on Friday before pulling back amid light trading during the holiday season that has led to sharp price swings in commodities markets.

U.S. exporters have already sold roughly three-quarters of the soybeans the Agriculture Department predicts for the whole marketing year, which ends in June 2008. Although current soybean supplies appear ample, analysts say the market is headed into a downward trend and that farmers need to plant more soybeans than they did last year -- when an ethanol boom led farmers to favor planting corn acres over soybeans.

'It's been a phenomenal year for soybeans, and this is a demand-driven rise so the fundamentals are still very bullish' for 2008, said Elaine Kub, a commodities markets analyst with DTN.

Rising demand in China to feed livestock and make alternative fuel is pressuring supplies and should push soybean prices higher in 2008, Kub said.

Soybeans for March delivery fell 9.50 cents to $12.1350 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade. Corn for March delivery fell 2 cents to $4.54 a bushel. Wheat for March delivery added 0.50 cent to $8.855 a bushel.

Precious metals traded lower on the New York Mercantile Exchange, as gold futures fell slightly on a stronger dollar and profit-taking.

Gold jumped last week after the assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto rattled investors, who often look to the precious metal as a safe haven from instability and inflation.

The dollar's steep drop against the 13-nation euro this year also has been a major driver behind gold's advance from less than $650 an ounce in January to a 28-year high near $850 an ounce in November. The average price of gold rose 13 percent in 2007 compared to the previous, the seventh straight annual gain, said Jon Nadler at Kitko Bullion Dealers Montreal.

'There may be some more profit-taking on gold early next year but I don't see it falling sharply. The overall trend is still for higher prices,' said Carlos Sanchez, a precious metals analyst at CMP Group.

An ounce of gold for February delivery fell $6.70 to $836 on the Nymex. March Silver fell 0.07 cent to $14.83 an ounce, while copper fell 1 cent to $3.0620 a pound.

Meanwhile, energy prices traded mixed, as oil fell slightly on weak U.S. home sales data and the strength of the dollar.

Light, sweet crude for February delivery fell 79 cents to $95.21 a barrel on the Nymex. January gasoline futures rose 0.53 cent to $2.465 a gallon on Monday, while heating oil for January delivery fell 0.21 cent to $2.6349 a gallon.