CBOT soybean futures November contract settled at 1308.75, down 9.75 cents/bushel. Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) soybean futures closed lower on Wednesday, ending a three-week winning streak, after prices had hit a two-and-a-half-year high. The upward momentum had come from sustained Chinese purchases (with an additional 202,000 tons sold to China on Wednesday, bringing the cumulative total since July 8 to 5.33 million tons), as well as support from uncertain U.S. crop prospects and tensions in the Black Sea region. However, after prices reached the two-and-a-half-year high, long profit-taking dominated the market, leading to a pullback in futures prices. Additionally, an Allendale survey showed a U.S. soybean yield estimate of 52.6 bushels/acre, slightly below the USDA's previous estimate of 52.7 bushels/acre. In the near term, market focus will be on the export sales report and yield expectations, with U.S. soybeans expected to trade in a range of 13001320 cents/bushel.