By Rebecca Townsend Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
 
 
   CHICAGO (Dow Jones) - Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures settled sharply
 lower Friday on continued strength in the U.S. dollar and outside market
 influences.
 
   September soybeans settled 53 3/4 cents lower at $12.11 1/2 and November
 soybeans ended 55 cents lower at $12.19.
 
   December soymeal settled $14.80 lower at $332.70 per short ton. December
 soyoil finished 207 points lower at 50.83 cents per pound.
 
   In the absence of any fresh fundamental news, the market reflected a retreat
 of speculative investors from commodities in general, traders and analysts
 said.
 
   "There's just so much money sloshing around in these commodity markets; when
 one market goes they all go," said Nathan Losey, an analyst with the AgResource
 Co.
 
   The U.S. dollar climbed. Crude oil dropped more than $2 a barrel. Gold and
 silver were down sharply.
 
   Active soybean contracts briefly plunged their exchange-imposed 70-cent daily
 trading limit amid the outside influences and weakness in Asian markets
 overnight.
 
   Overall activity was subdued despite the sharp slide with one trader noting
 "it was the quietest almost-limit-down day in quite a while."
 
   The absence of fresh fundamental news provided little incentive for traders
 to push prices higher as buyers backed away from commodities either to the
 sidelines or into equities, a CBOT floor broker said.
 
   "There's really no change in the fundamentals," Losey said. "Without anything
 new there's nothing left to trade except for what the funds are doing."
 
   In pit trades, speculative fund selling was estimated at 4,000 contracts.
 
   Most of the central U.S. should see temperatures from three to 10 degrees
 Fahrenheit above normal through the middle of next week, DTN Meteorlogix said.
 
   "This temperature pattern will be beneficial to crops in need of heat units
 during the filling and maturing stages of the season," Meteorlogix said.
  SOY PRODUCTS
 
 
   Soy-product futures tumbled Friday, following a steep decline in soybeans.
 Both soymeal and soyoil came close to falling their daily trading limits during
 the session amid broad-based weakness in commodities.
 
   The sharp slide in crude-oil futures weighed heavily on soyoil, with soymeal
 following closely behind price movements in soybeans.
 
   December oil share ended at 43.31% and the November/December crush ended at
 72 1/2 cents.
 
   Speculative fund selling was estimated at 2,000 lots in soymeal and 3,000
 lots in soyoil.