GRAINS-Chicago soybeans, corn edge lower on Argentinian rain outlook

BEIJING, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean and corn futures nudged lower on Wednesday, pressured by forecasts of rain relief in key exporter Argentina and weaker-than-expected export sales data.

Wheat edged higher, with traders shifting their focus to lower Kansas wheat ratings.

FUNDAMENTALS

* The most-active soybean contract Sv1 on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was down 0.18% at $9.96 a bushel by 0133 GMT.

* Chicago corn Cv1 inched 0.05% lower to $4.57-6/8, while wheat Wv1 rose 0.14% to $5.43 a bushel.

* Earlier this week, expectations of dryness in key corn and soybean grower Argentina pushed prices higher, but they eased after forecasts of showers over the next 11-15 days.

* The dollar stood tall on Wednesday and the yen sagged close to levels that drew intervention last year after strong U.S. data drove a spike in yields and pared some bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts. FRX

* The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) supply-and-demand report, due on Friday, is expected to revise lower its crop estimates for both Argentina and the United States.

* Condition ratings for winter wheat declined during December in Kansas, the top U.S. winter wheat producer, even as dry conditions subsided in parts of the state, the USDA said on Monday.

* Exporters sold 110,000 metric tons of U.S. corn to Colombia for 2024/25 delivery, the USDA said.

* Jordan's state grains buyer purchased about 60,000 metric tons of hard milling wheat to be sourced from optional origins in an international tender, traders said.

* Soft wheat exports from the European Union since the start of the 2024/25 season in July had reached 11.16 million metric tons by Jan. 5, down 34% from 16.89 million tons a year earlier, data published by the European Commission showed on Tuesday.

* European Union soybean imports in the 2024/25 season that started in July had reached 6.96 million metric tons by Jan. 5, up 12% from the 6.22 million tons a year earlier, data published by the European Commission showed on Tuesday.

* Commodity funds were net buyers of Chicago Board of Trade corn, wheat, soyoil and soybean futures contracts on Tuesday and net sellers of soymeal, traders said. COMFUND/CBT

MARKET NEWS

* Global stocks lost ground while U.S. Treasury yields edged higher on Tuesday after data showed the American economy remained resilient, indicating the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates fewer times this year than the market had been expecting. MKTS/GLOB

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0700 Germany Industrial Orders MM Nov

0700 Germany Manufacturing O/P Cur Prices SA Nov

0700 Germany Consumer Goods SA Nov

1000 EU Consumer Confid. Final Dec

1330 US Initial Jobless Clm 4 Jan, w/e

(Reporting by Ella Cao and Mei Mei Chu; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

((Ella.Cao@thomsonreuters.com;))