CHICAGO, Jan 21 (Reuters) - U.S. soybean futures fell on Friday, succumbing to profit taking after rallying to their highest level in more than seven months the previous day.
Some much-needed rain in Argentina that analysts said stabilized the crop there added to the pressure in the soybean market but prices rebounded from their overnight lows on signs of strong export demand.
Rising export interest also boosted corn, which turned higher after sinking during the overnight trading sessions.
"We are seeing a lot of sloshing of money around in the markets," said Greg Grow, director of agribusiness at Archer Financial Services in Chicago. "It is a real volatile, choppy affair. We came in this morning and we got some export business."
The U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA) said that private exporters reported the sale of 132,000 tonnes of soybeans to China and 247,800 tonnes of corn to unknown destinations.
Separately, USDA said that weekly export sales of soybeans totaled 1.199 million tonnes, up 30.5% from a week earlier. Corn export sales of 1.196 million tonnes were near the high end of market forecasts.
At 11:03 a.m. CST (1603 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade March soybean futures were down 14-3/4 cents at $14.11 a bushel.
CBOT March corn was up 2 cents at $6.13 a bushel. Deferred corn contracts were steady to slightly weaker.
Reduced harvest prospects in Brazil and Argentina due to dryness could push more Chinese demand towards the United States.
CBOT March soft red winter wheat was down 5-1/2 cents at $7.84-3/4 a bushel after hitting a three-week high on Thursday.
Traders monitored talks between Washington and Moscow to gauge tensions over Ukraine, which like Russia is a major grain exporter via the Black Sea. Fears of Russian military action in Ukraine were tempered by talks in Geneva at which top diplomats agreed to pursue dialogue. (Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing by David Evans and Susan Fenton)
