GRAINS-Soybeans steady after rally punctured by doubts about Chinese buying

CANBERRA, Nov 21 (Reuters) - U.S. soybean futures rose slightly on Friday at the end of a see-saw week during which Chinese purchases of U.S. beans pushed prices to a 17-month high before doubts about whether China would sustain so rapid a pace of buying punctured the rally.

Corn futures inched higher and wheat fell slightly.

FUNDAMENTALS

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Sv1 was up 0.2% at $11.24-3/4 a bushel at 0111 GMT. The contract was set to end the week flat after reaching $11.69-1/2 on Tuesday, its highest since June 2024.

CBOT corn for December delivery CZ25 rose 0.1% to $4.38 a bushel but was on track for a weekly loss of 0.9%. Wheat Wv1 slipped 0.1% to $5.40-1/4 a bushel and was down 0.2% from last Friday's close.

Soybeans are still up more than 10% since mid-October and corn and wheat hit multi-month highs in recent days - the rallies driven by trade negotiations that have revived Chinese purchases of U.S. farm goods.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Thursday that China bought 462,000 metric tons of U.S. soybeans, taking the total sales to China confirmed this week to more than 1.5 million tons.

The USDA also said on Thursday that China had bought 132,000 metric tons of U.S. white wheat.

However, China's soybean purchases remain far off the 12 million tons that U.S. officials said it promised to buy by the end of the year as part of a trade truce between the two nations and many traders think that target won't be reached.

Commodity funds have been net sellers of CBOT soybeans, wheat and corn so far this week, traders say. They hold net short positions in all three crops.

A rally in the dollar index =USD has also pressured CBOT prices by making U.S. crops more expensive for overseas buyers. USD/

Hanging over the markets is ample supply. The International Grains Council on Thursday raised its forecasts for global wheat and corn production in the 2025/26 season. It trimmed its soybean harvest estimate but still expects the second-largest crop on record.

Consultants Sovecon meanwhile raised their 2025 Russian wheat production forecast by 0.8 million tons to 88.6 million tons and said another bumper crop was likely next year.

MARKETS NEWS

Asian shares extended a global rout on Friday, as the much-anticipated U.S. jobs data failed to provide clarity on interest rates, with investors returning to dumping riskier assets even after Nvidia's earnings dazzled. MKTS/GLOB