By Andrew Johnson Jr.
   Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
 
 
   CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures ended mixed
 Friday, with old crop futures trending higher while new crop contracts
 retreated on spreads.
 
   CBOT July soybeans settled 5 cents higher at $12.01 and November soybeans
 finished 11 cents lower at $9.91. In pit trades, speculative fund selling was
 estimated at 4,000 lots in soybeans, and 2,000 lots in soyoil.
 
   July soy meal settled $7.70 higher at $405.00 per short ton. July soyoil
 finished 46 points lower at 36.08 cents per pound.
 
   "The soybean market was dominated by bull spreads in both soybeans and
 soymeal, as tight availability of old crop physical supplies served as the
 catalyst to propel bull spreads to new highs," said Greg Wagner, analyst with
 AgResource Co. in Chicago.
 
   The July/November soybean bull spread differential settled at $2.10 inverse,
 widening from Thursday's close of $1.94.
 
   New crop contracts were confronted with a two-fronted attack on prices,
 Wagner said. Good weather conditions for late plantings and crop development
 and larger seeding outlooks for Tuesday's acreage report weighed on the back
 end of the market, he added.
 
   Bull spreading was the featured attraction in an otherwise quiet news front,
 with the nearby July future gravitating toward the $12.00 options strike price
 as options on July futures expired Friday.
 
   The mixed tone is expected to remain the characteristic of the soybean market
 heading into Tuesday's key acreage and quarterly stocks reports, as old and new
 crop fundamentals diverge. Nearby futures will continue to draw support from
 tightening supplies in the face of solid underlying demand, Wagner said.
 
   The U.S. Department of Agriculture is expected to show a moderate increase in
 soybean acreage from its March prospective plantings report with soybean stocks
 as of June 1 reflecting solid third-quarter usage in its reports scheduled for
 release Tuesday 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT).
 
   Analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires estimate soybean acreage at 78.305
 million acres, up 2.281 million acres from the March projection of 76.024
 million. The estimates from the 18 analysts surveyed ranged between 75.300 and
 79.631 million acres. USDA is expected to report soybean stocks at 586 million
 bushels in its quarterly Grain Stocks report.
 
   The DTN Meteorlogix weather forecast calls for generally favorable Midwest
 weather conditions for developing soybeans to continue during the next seven to
 10 days. Some disruptions to the remaining soybean planting including double
 cropped soybean planting after the wheat harvest could continue, although not
 to the degree seen earlier in the season, Meteorlogix said.
 
   Soy Products
 
 
   Soybean futures finished mixed, with bull spreading featured. Meal bull
 spreads rallied to new highs, with old crop contracts supported by concerns
 about the availability of high protein meal, with strong underlying export
 demand underpinning factors, analysts said.
 
   Soyoil futures stumbled, succumbing to meal/oil spreading. Soyoil was the
 weak link in the soy complex, with weakness from crude oil future's slide
 adding pressure to pin prices in negative territory, Wagner said.
 
   July oil share slipped to 30.78%, while the July soybean crush ended at 87
 cents.