CBOT soybeans firm on technical trading ahead of holiday weekend

CHICAGO, May 22 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures ended higher Thursday on technical trading, as market participants began to adjust their positions ahead of the Memorial Day holiday weekend, analysts said.

• CBOT July soybeans SN25 settled up 4-3/4 cents at $10.67-1/2 a bushel.

• CBOT July soyoil BON25 ended 0.72-cent lower at 49.11 cents per pound, while CBOT July soymeal SMN25 rose $4.40 to $298.50 per short ton.

• CBOT soyoil futures slumped as an amendment to the U.S. House of Representatives' tax bill was seen as negative for biodiesel tax credits.

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture said U.S. exporters sold a net 307,900 metric tons of old-crop U.S. soybeans last week, near the high end of a range of trade estimates.

• But new-crop weekly export sales of 15,000 metric tons were below expectations. EXP/SOY

• Soybeans also turned higher on U.S. Midwest planting delays, particularly in the eastern areas, market analysts said.

• Brazil began a 28-day bird flu observation period on Thursday which it hopes will show the country's chicken farms are free of the disease, after local authorities said a farm where its first outbreak was detected had been fully disinfected.