FINANCIAL MARKETS : Commodities : Soybean Futures Continue to Gain

Soybean futures posted respectable gains for the second straight day Tuesday despite an early harvest that had been expected to keep a lid on price increases. Grain futures were mostly higher.

On other markets, live hogs settled higher while other livestock and meat futures were lower.

Energy futures were slightly higher and precious metals were mixed.

Soybean prices on the Chicago Board of Trade advanced because of increasing world demand and fairly heavy technical buying, analysts said.

Technical traders ignore such fundamental factors as weather, harvest pressure and cash sales, and trade based on patterns of up-and-down movement.

“The rally today partly fed upon itself,” said Victor Lespinasse, a trader in Chicago for Dean Witter Reynolds Inc.

“A lot of technicians saw the prices going up and decided to go with the flow,” he added

Harvest weather has been good, but Lespinasse said farmer selling of both soybeans and corn has not materialized at the levels that traders had expected.

“Right now there’s a good demand for world beans and good demand for meal and oil,” said Mickey Luth, an analyst in Chicago for Shearson Lehman Bros.

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