Soybean Futures Mixed

Grains and soybeans futures prices were mixed Wednesday on the Chicago Board of Trade. Market factors included Brazilian rains and a damaged river lock, analysts said.

Volume was fair to light.

“Oil again was the stellar performer,” said Victor Lespinasse, a grains trader in Chicago with Dean Witter Reynolds Inc. Soy oil for delivery in May traded 43 points higher.

Lespinasse said many traders were buying soy oil and selling soy meal, hoping to profit from a change in the difference between the prices of the two contracts.

Futures prices, analysts said, were under selling pressure from a recovery of the U.S. dollar, which makes U.S. farm products more expensive to foreign buyers.

Analysts also noted that heavy rains fell on Brazil’s soybean harvesters Tuesday, and more rains are predicted through Friday in that large farm exporting country.

Fears of long delays in corn shipments were expressed by traders over a damaged lock on the Mississippi River north of St. Louis, said Susan Hackmann, a grains analyst in Chicago with Pershing Futures.