January Soybeans finished down 3 at 883, 12 3/4 off the high and 13 up from the low. March Soybeans closed down 5 1/2 at 888 1/2. This was 10 1/2 up from the low and 14 3/4 off the high.

March Soymeal closed down 6.2 at 257.5. This was 0.5 up from the low and 10.5 off the high.

March Soybean Oil finished up 0.1 at 33.38, 0.32 off the high and 0.63 up from the low.

The soybean complex opened lower on the day in light trade and eroded into new lows during mid session. Traders said that continued strength in the dollar contributed to the mid session weakness which was also marked by evening up and spec liquidation ahead of the weekend. Soybean, meal and oil futures closed early at 12:00 noon today due to the holiday week. Trade sources in India expect a recently imposed tax on soy oil there to boost imports and usage of palm oil according to the US agricultural attache. Palm oil accounts for some 90% of India's vegetable oil imports. The USDA's Export Sales Report showed another week of strong sales in soybeans and very strong sales in oil. The biggest buyer in soybeans was China which took a whopping 84% of this week's net sales. The biggest sale in oil was for 15,000 tonnes to an unknown buyer. Egypt was the biggest buyer in meal. Net sales for soybeans came in at 781,600 tonnes for the current marketing year and 4,000 for the next marketing year for a total of 785,600. Net meal sales came in at 59,700 tonnes, all for the current marketing year. Net oil sales came in at 17,100 tonnes. This week's oilseed crushings in Canada showed the soybean crush up slightly while canola was down. Basis levels at the Gulf were steady in quiet trade today.