CBOT soybeans end higher; soyoil futures set fresh contract highs

CHICAGO, May 1 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures ended higher on Friday on a bear spread, even as the most-active July contract SN26 stayed inside Thursday's trading range, market analysts said.

• CBOT July soybeans SN26 settled up 7-3/4 cents at $12.03-1/4 a bushel.

• Soybean futures drew support as soyoil futures 0#BO: set fresh contract highs, buoyed by demand for biodiesel.

• The most-active July soyoil BON26 settled 0.62 cent higher at 75.16 cents per pound.

• Crush margins also gave soybean futures a boost. The Chicago Board of Trade July SMSIN26-BON26-SN26 board crush, one indication of soy processors' profit margins, was last up 3 cents at $3.29 per bushel of soybeans.

• July soymeal SMN26 ended 40 cents higher at $319.30 per short ton.

• Weather concerns were also at play in the corn and soybean markets on Friday, traders said.

• Some brokers and market analysts said that their farmer clients in central and eastern parts of the U.S. Corn Belt had not yet started planting, either because it had been too wet or too cold.

• Global oil prices turned lower on Friday after hitting a four-year high of more than $126 a barrel earlier on Thursday on concerns the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran could lead to a protracted Middle East supply disruption that could inflict deeper damage on the global economy. O/R

• Lower crude oil prices can put pressure on the soy complex, as soybeans are a common feedstock for biofuel.