Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures eased on Friday on liquidation in commodity markets and as traders adjusted positions ahead of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's acreage and stocks reports next week, market analysts said.
Still, strength in the nearby soybean oil markets helped offset some of the pressure from weakness in the crude oil markets, traders said.
Crude oil prices fell sharply on Friday, as supply concerns eased with more oil tankers exiting the Strait of Hormuz.
The decline in energy prices weighed on soybean futures. Soybeans are used as a feedstock for biofuels.
CBOT July soybeans (SN26) settled down 1-1/4 cents at $11.26-1/4 a bushel. Meanwhile, the most-active new-crop November soybeans (SX26) contract ended 3/4-cent lower at $11.56-1/4 a bushel.
CBOT soymeal futures were lower, with CBOT July soymeal (SMN26) settling down $1.20 at $307.00 per short ton.
Meanwhile, CBOT soyoil futures were mixed. July soyoil (BON26) rose 0.490 cent at 71.30 cents per pound.
USDA on Tuesday is expected to report U.S. soybean stocks on June 1 were up about 3.8% from a year earlier and that farmers planted about 85.4 million acres of soybeans this spring, a Reuters poll of analysts showed.
The National Weather Service is forecasting that temperatures could reach 100 degrees Fahrenheit this weekend as far north as the upper Midwest and as far east as the Carolinas. Hotter-than-normal weather is expected from the Plains to the Atlantic Coast through July 4.