GRAINS-Soybeans flat as rapid US harvest overshadows China trade hopes

By Karl Plume

CHICAGO, Oct 3 (Reuters) - U.S. soybean futures were little changed on Friday as pressure from a fast-advancing U.S. harvest offset support from hopes that upcoming U.S.-China talks could revive stalled soybean trade.

Corn edged lower on the prospect of rising supplies from a likely record-large U.S. crop, while wheat firmed on short covering and technical buying.

Soybeans were poised for their first weekly advance in three weeks, rising more than 30 cents a bushel from midweek lows after comments by U.S. President Donald Trump that soybeans would be a major topic of discussion when he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in four weeks.

Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday predicted a "pretty big breakthrough" from the Trump-Xi talks while also flagging U.S. government aid for soybean farmers.

"We had a little Trump bump," said Don Roose, president of U.S. Commodities. "It's seller beware when you've got the administration out here trying to talk more positively about negotiations."

The soy market remains anchored by below-normal export sales and expectations for a large U.S. harvest.

Importers in China, the top U.S. soy market by far, have not yet bought soybeans from the autumn U.S. harvest.

Chicago Board of Trade November soybeans SX25 rose as high as $10.28-3/4 a bushel before falling back to $10.23-1/2 by 12:48 p.m. CDT (1748 GMT), down 1/4 cent on the day.

December corn futures CZ25 were down 1-3/4 cents at $4.20 a bushel. CBOT December wheat WZ25 was up 1 cent at $5.15-3/4 per bushel.

The U.S. corn harvest is also advancing quickly, helped by warm and dry weather across the Midwest corn belt.

However, government data tracking harvesting progress will not be available due to a U.S. government shutdown. The stalemate in Washington is also likely to delay the release of a critical crop supply and demand report next Thursday.