CHICAGO, Fed. 1 (Xinhua) -- Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) soybean futures continued to decline on Thursday amid profit-taking and less-than-expected export sales.

The most active corn contract for March delivery rose 0.25 cent to settle at 3.6175 dollars per bushel. March wheat delivery went down 0.75 cent, or 0.17 percent to close at 4.51 dollars per bushel. March soybeans fell 10.75 cents, or 1.08 percent to settle at 9.85 dollars per bushel.

CBOT brokers reported that funds sold 8,600 contracts of soybeans, 6,000 contracts of corn and 4,700 contracts of wheat.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its weekly export sales report on Thursday, indicating that the U.S. exported just 409,000 metric tons of soybeans, far less than the trade's expectations of between 775,000-1,300,000 metric tons.

Along with profit-taking, the unsatisfying export data further dragged down CBOT soybeans.

In sharp contrast, the USDA data put corn export at 1.88 million metric tons, with the trade's expectations at between 850,000-1,200,000 metric tons. The higher export volume obviously offset the profit-taking pressure on corn futures.

U.S. wheat export sales stood at 289,100 metric tons, within the trade's expectations of between 175,000-400,000 metric tons.