CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade ended
 moderately higher Monday, continuing their consolidation of last week's tumble
 to multi-month lows, on technically inspired speculative buying. 
  
   November soybeans ended 4 cents higher at $6.06, December soymeal settled
 $0.70 higher at $187.40 a short ton, while December soyoil ended 20 points
 higher at 22.58 cents a pound. 
  
   The market's recent plunge left futures oversold, opening the door for the
 market to extend Friday's bounce from Thursday's lows, said a CBOT commission
 house broker. 
  
   Overall activity was relatively quiet, with prices settling into narrow
 trading ranges for most of the day. The absence of any aggressive selling
 pressure, with futures seemingly finding fair value for soybeans, promoted
 sideways action with prices unable to break out of the parameters of Thursday's
 trading range. 
  
   The firm tone was consistent from the outset, with talk of harvest delays in
 the U.S. Delta due to Hurricane Katrina, and lower-than-expected weekend rains
 across the Midwest helping kick-start the upward tone. 
  
   However, concerns that the fallout from the hurricane could keep the port of
 New Orleans shut down for several days were seen having a bearish influence on
 prices, with exports halted and river traffic left at a standstill, traders
 added. 
  
   In demand news, USDA said weekly soybean export inspections totaled 4.675
 million bushels, down from 5.603 million last week. This was within
 expectations that ranged from 4 million to 9 million bushels. 
  
   The USDA is scheduled to release its weekly crop progress reports at 3 p.m.
 CDT. Analysts anticipate crops rated in good-to-excellent condition to come in
 1 to 2 percentage points higher than last week. 
  
   In pit trades, ADM Investor Services, Bunge Chicago, Fimat and Rand Financial
 each bought 200 November; Man Financial and O'Connor each bought 300 November;
 and Refco bought 600 November. 
  
   Citigroup, Cargill, Man Financial, RJ O'Brien and UBS Securities each sold
 200 November and Refco sold 500 November. 
  
   South American soybean futures ended higher across the board. The September
 futures settled 9 cents higher at $6.40. 
  
   SOY PRODUCTS 
  
   Soy product futures ended higher, extending their recoveries from last week's
 declines on oversold technical conditions. Spillover momentum from soybean
 futures added to the firm tone in relatively quiet trade, analysts said.
 However, soyoil did manage to gain oil share against soymeal. 
  
   December oil share was at 37.58%, and the November/December crush was at 55
 cents. 
  
   In soymeal trades, FCStone and Shatkin/Arbor each bought 200 December.
 Cargill, Citigroup and Goldenberg Hehmeyer were each light sellers. 
  
   In soyoil trades, Refco bought 200 October; Bunge Chicago and Calyon
 Financial each bought 200 December; and Goldenberg Hehmeyer bought 300
 December. Iowa Grain sold 200 December, and Cargill and ABN Amro were each
 light sellers.