Chicago soy futures fall for 8th day on plentiful rainfall in Argentina

CHICAGO, Feb. 20 -- Soybean futures in Chicago Board of Trade finished lower for the 8th consecutive trading day on Friday, due to rainfall in Argentina crop areas threatened by drought and tumbling stock market. Corn and wheat dropped too.

Corn future for March delivery lost 3 cents, finished at 3.505 U. S. dollars a bushel. March soybean dropped 22 cents to 8.625 dollars per bushel and March wheat was down 0.25 cents, settled on5.1925 dollars per bushel.

Soybean and corn's weakness stemmed from the arrival of moderate to heavy rains in major growing areas of Argentina on Friday. The rain has been forecasted all week, but the amounts appear to be even heavier than the early predictions.

Lower oil and equity markets also pressured soybean and corn early in the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index continued to decline sharply on Friday after closing at its lowest level since 2002 on Thursday.

Market sentiment over decreased demand for agricultural products as a result of the global economic crisis and U.S. recession continued to weigh on the futures.

Farmers in Argentina are starting a 5-day strike, which is expected to last until Tuesday afternoon when talks with the government are scheduled. This provided some support to soybean, analysts said.