GRAINS-Soybeans slip but head for weekly gain on hopes for Trump-Xi meeting

CANBERRA, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures edged lower on Friday as a two-day rally lost steam, but were still on track to end the week up nearly 1% after U.S. President Donald Trump raised hopes that China might start buying U.S. beans again.

Corn and wheat futures were unchanged. Both have gained in the last two sessions, helped by strong export demand for U.S. wheat, but ample global supply continues to weigh and both were headed for weekly losses.

FUNDAMENTALS

* The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Sv1 was down 0.2% at $10.22-1/4 a bushel at 0041 GMT, but up 0.8% for the week.

* Prices are far below the highs of recent years due to booming South American supply and have been stuck around $10 since August last year.

* CBOT corn Cv1 was unchanged at $4.21-3/4 a bushel and 0.1% lower over the week. Wheat Wv1 was flat at $5.14-3/4 a bushel and down 1% from last Friday's close. Both contracts are also far below the highs reached in 2022.

* Trump said on Wednesday that soybeans would be a major topic of discussion when he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in four weeks.

* Since then, funds have been significant net buyers not only of CBOT soybeans, but also of corn and wheat, traders say.

* Chinese importers have not yet bought soybeans from the autumn U.S. harvest, costing U.S. farmers billions of dollars in lost sales amid a trade war between the two nations. China is instead buying its beans from South America.

* U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday said the federal government would support American farmers, and an announcement would be made on Tuesday.

* Elsewhere, Ukraine's government has developed, though not yet launched, a mechanism for duty-free exports of rapeseed and soybeans.

* Argentina's 2025/26 wheat yields are nearing historic highs thanks to abundant soil moisture, the Buenos Aires grains exchange said, two days after raising its harvest estimate to 22 million metric tons.

* Saudi Arabia issued a tender to purchase 420,000 metric tons of hard-milling wheat, the General Food Security Authority (GFSA) said.

* A U.S. government shutdown that started on Wednesday will likely delay the release of U.S. Department of Agriculture data.

MARKETS NEWS

* Global stocks gained and gold traded near record highs on Thursday as investors took in their stride the potential ramifications of a U.S. government shutdown, while a weak private U.S. labour market report bolstered bets for Federal Reserve rate cuts. MKTS/GLOB