* Soybeans see rally on larger-than-expect export news
* Strong dollar weighed heavy on grains
* U.S. wheat, corn and soybeans face rival export pressures
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CHICAGO, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade soybeans futures in volatile trade on Monday rose on stronger-than-expected export news and a bounce off a dive by the most-active contract to the lowest price since December of 2020.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday reported weekly export inspections showed U.S. soybeans in the latest week at 1,426,472 metric tons, far above trade expectations - but below the volume at the same time last year.
Meanwhile, South American harvest prospects continued to weigh on futures, and a firming U.S. dollar curbed price rallies, traders said.
On Monday, the U.S. dollar rose to the highest since Nov. 14 against major currencies.
One reason for Monday's choppy trade - which swung from the negative to the positive multiple times during the morning session - is that most market signals are fairly bullish, traders said.
Better-than-expected rainfall in Argentina over the weekend weighed on futures trade from a production standpoint, and the beginning of the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday on Friday was likely to cap demand for the coming two weeks, said Angie Setzer, co-founder of Consus Ag Consulting LLC.
Corn futures also briefly firmed before turning lower, on news that U.S. exporters had sold 155,000 metric tons of corn to Mexico for the 2023-2024 marketing year.
And wheat futures turned lower for a second straight session, pressured by a stronger dollar, which tends to make U.S. grains less attractive on the world market, and strong competition from global wheat suppliers, particularly Russia.
The Chicago Board of Trade's most active soybean contract was up 0.55% at $11.95 a bushel by 1741 GMT. Wheat fell 1.88% to $5.88-1/2 a bushel while corn slipped by 0.23% to $4.41-3/4 a bushel. (Additional reporting by Michael Hogan in Hamburg and Naveen Thukral in Singapore. Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Mrigank Dhaniwala, David Goodman and Barbara Lewis)
