GRAINS-Wheat falls on improved US crop rating; corn down

SINGAPORE, June 3 (Reuters) - Chicago wheat slid on Tuesday, giving up some of last session's gains, as improved U.S. crop condition weighed on prices, although intensifying Russia-Ukraine war limited losses.

Corn fell, while soybeans were largely unchanged.

FUNDAMENTALS

* The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Wv1 fell 0.5% to $5.36-1/4 a bushel, as of 0012 GMT. Corn Cv1 lost 0.4% to $4.36-3/4 a bushel and soybeans Sv1 fell quarter of a cent to $10.33-1/4 a bushel.

* The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) weekly crop progress report showed on Monday 50% of U.S. spring wheat and 52% of winter wheat in good to excellent condition, exceeding analyst expectations.

* The U.S. winter wheat crop has been plagued by persistent dryness, but recent rains have helped the crop rebound. The USDA ratings surpassed analyst predictions of a 50% good to excellent rating for the winter wheat crop and a 47% rating for spring wheat.

* Wheat prices rose on Monday on short covering as a Ukrainian drone attack in Russia shifted attention back on the war between the two grain exporters.

* The pressure on the soybean market stemmed from trade tensions with China, the world's biggest soybean buyer, after President Donald Trump on Friday accused China of violating an agreement with the U.S. to mutually roll back tariffs.

* Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will likely speak this week, the White House said on Monday.

* Ample Brazilian soy supplies continue to pressure the market. Agribusiness consultancy AgRural raised its forecast for Brazil's 2024/25 soybean crop by 1.3 million tons to 169 million tons, citing improved yields.

* The USDA rated 67% of U.S. soybeans in good to excellent condition in its initial ratings of the 2025 soy crop, just below an average of analyst estimates for 68% but roughly on par with previous years. Soybean planting was 84% complete, ahead of the five-year average of 80%.

* The agency's corn rating improved to 69% good-to-excellent, up a percentage point from last week and in line with trade expectations. Planting was 93% complete, matching the five-year average.

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

MARKET NEWS

* Wall Street ended a choppy session higher on Monday and the dollar softened as trade tensions between Washington and Beijing heated up and investors showed caution ahead of U.S. employment data and a widely expected policy rate cut from the European Central Bank. MKTS/GLOB

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0145 China Caixin Mfg PMI Final May

0900 EU HICP Flash YY May

0900 EU HICP-X, F, E, A, T Flash MM, YY May

0900 EU Unemployment Rate Apr

1400 US Factory Orders MM Apr