GRAINS-Wheat retreats on harvest pressure; corn, soy mostly lower

By Julie Ingwersen

CHICAGO, June 9 (Reuters) - U.S. wheat futures fell about 2% on Monday on seasonal pressure from the start of the Northern Hemisphere winter wheat harvest while corn futures sagged on favorable crop weather, traders said.

Soybean futures were mostly lower on good growing conditions in the Midwest crop belt, but nearby contracts were choppy, supported by optimism over U.S.-China trade talks being held in London.

As of 12:59 p.m. CDT (1759 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade July wheat WN25 was down 11 cents at $5.43-3/4 per bushel, snapping a three-session climb. July corn CN25 was down 8-1/2 cents at $4.34 a bushel.

CBOT July soybeans SN25 were down 1/2 cent at $10.56-3/4 a bushel while the new-crop November soybean contract SX25 was down 5 cents at $10.32.

Wheat futures slid as the winter wheat harvest got under way and speculators paused after a short-covering bounce last week. Ahead of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's weekly crop progress report due later on Monday, analysts surveyed by Reuters on average expected the government to show the U.S. winter wheat harvest as 8% complete.

Meanwhile, Russian agricultural consultancy Sovecon raised its forecast for Russia's 2025 wheat harvest by 1.8 million metric tons to 82.8 million tons, citing good weather. Russia is the world's biggest wheat exporter.

Corn and soybean planting is nearly complete in the United States and crop weather was favorable, bolstering production prospects and anchoring futures.

"The crops are in the ground and they are emerging well, and the weather is good. That takes a lot of energy out of the markets," said Jack Scoville, vice president of the Price Futures Group in Chicago.

The USDA reported export inspections of U.S. corn in the latest week at 1.657 million tons, topping trade expectations . However, with Brazil's second-crop corn harvest getting started, the window for U.S. corn sales may be slowing.

"People are getting a little worried about our ability to sell into the world market," Scoville said.

Market players were monitoring talks in London between the United States and China aimed at cooling a trade dispute between the world's two largest economies. China is by far the world's largest soybean buyer.

White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said that the U.S. team wanted a "handshake" from China on rare earths after President Donald Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping had agreed to resume shipments in a call between the two presidents last week.