CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade ended
 sharply lower Wednesday, with technical weakness and rumblings of rain
 potential for the Midwest uncorking a wave of speculative selling. 
  
   August soybeans ended 19 1/2 cents lower at $6.70 a bushel, November soybeans
 ended 23 cents lower at $6.81 1/2, December soymeal settled $6.70 lower at
 $209.80 a short ton, and December soyoil ended 66 points lower at 24.72 cent a
 pound. 
  
   Once speculative buying dried up above $7.00 in November and weather
 forecasters began to talk up better rain chances, the market ran into an air
 pocket of buying, essentially kicking the legs out from under the market, said
 John Kleist, analyst with Kleist Agricultural Consulting. 
  
   Futures have settled into a choppy trading pattern, with the absence of a
 need to extend weather premium beyond the $7.00 level limiting upside momentum,
 while uncertainty tied weather conditions has kept a floor under prices, added
 Kleist. 
  
   Choppy two-sided trade was consistent through the first half of the session,
 until wetter extended weather outlooks and technical selling surfaced to pin
 prices in negative territory. The declines accelerated once the November
 contract slid below major moving averages and the psychological $7.00 per
 bushel level. 
  
   The sensitivity of the market to weather conditions during soybean's key pod
 filling stage of development continues to produce a volatile atmosphere, with
 traders essentially unwilling to aggressively push or pull the market amid
 uncertainty of the crop's production potential, analysts said. 
  
   Longer range weather models show a somewhat better rain potential for the
 Midwest, with the possibility for some subtle changes in the weather pattern
 next week that may allow some scattered showers to develop on a more regular
 basis, said John Dee, president Global Weather Monitoring in Lake Linden, MI. 
  
   Meanwhile, near-term forecasts continue to point to limited rain potential
 for key areas of the eastern Midwest through the weekend, with temperatures
 warming after a cool front moves through the region Thursday and Friday. 
  
   On tap for Thursday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is scheduled to
 release its weekly export sales report at 7:30 a.m. CDT (1230 GMT). Analysts
 anticipate commitments in the range of 25,000 to 80,000 metric tons. 
  
   In pit trades, ADM Investor Services, Calyon Financial, Rand Financial and
 Refco each bought 300 November, Bunge Chicago and Cargill each bought 200
 November. 
  
   On the sell side, Cargill Investor Services sold 1,000 November, Citigroup,
 RJ O'Brien and Man Financial each sold 500 November, Fimat sold 300 November
 and Refco sold 700 November. 
  
   South American soybean futures fell sharply Wednesday. September futures
 settled 21 cents lower at $6.98. 
  
  
    SOY PRODUCTS 
  
  
   Soymeal futures ended lower across the board, pressured by technical selling
 and spillover weakness from the slide in soybean futures. The absence of fresh
 fundamental news to support prices kept futures keying on soybean movement and
 with prices breaching support at major moving averages, selling pressure
 accelerated, traders said. 
  
   Soyoil futures fell sharply Wednesday, retracing most of Tuesday's strong
 gains. Speculative profit taking was attributed to views that Tuesday's gains
 were a bit overdone. Coupled with spillover weakness from soybean, that set the
 stage for the losses. 
  
   "Without the speculative buying support seen Tuesday, futures had little
 reason to extend the rally, consolidating on technical selling attributed the
 December futures ability to penetrate underlying support," said a CBOT
 commission house broker. 
  
   December oil share ended at 36.69%, and the November/December crush finished
 at 34 3/4 cent. 
  
   In soymeal trades, Cargill Investor Services bought 300 September and 600
 December, Prudential Financial bought 200 September, Term Commodities and
 Cargill were each light buyers. Bunge Chicago sold 400 October, Cargill sold
 300 September, RJ O'Brien and Refco each sold 300 December. 
  
   In soyoil trades, Man Financial bought 200 December, Bunge Chicago bought 200
 October. Bunge Chicago sold 500 December, Citigroup sold 500 December, RJ
 O'Brien sold 200 December, with selling scattered among various firms.