GRAINS-Chicago soybeans firm as traders eye Chinese buying

BEIJING, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures firmed on Thursday after three straight sessions of declines, as traders tracked the pace of Chinese purchases of U.S. supplies.

Corn edged lower as concerns about a military escalation in the Black Sea grain export region eased. Wheat inched higher, though ample global supplies continued to cap gains.

FUNDAMENTALS

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Sv1 was up 0.22% at $11.18-1/4 a bushel, as of 0140 GMT, after three straight sessions of consecutive declines.

CBOT wheat Wv1 added 0.05% to $5.38-1/2 a bushel and corn Cv1 dipped 0.11% to $4.43 a bushel.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that China was poised to complete its commitments under a Sino-U.S. trade agreement, including the purchase of 12 million metric tons of soybeans, which the Treasury chief said would be finished by the end of February 2026.

Fears of disruption to Black Sea grain shipments eased after a five-hour Kremlin meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump's top envoys, even though no agreement was reached to end the war in Ukraine.

Putin had threatened to sever Ukraine's access to the Black Sea following drone attacks on Russian-linked vessels.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will release its weekly export sales report later on Thursday.

Traders estimated U.S. net export sales for the week ended October 30 at 250,000 to 650,000 tons for wheat, 600,000 to 2,000,000 tons for soybeans, and corn export sales at 800,000 to 2,500,000 tons.

Commodity funds were net sellers of CBOT corn, soy, and wheat futures on Thursday, traders said. COMFUND/CBT

MARKETS NEWS

The dollar hit a five-week low while Asian stocks made a lacklustre start to the trading session on Thursday, after weaker-than-expected economic data cemented expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at its meeting next week. MKTS/GLOB

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0930 UK S&P GLOBAL PMI: MSC COMPOSITE - OUTPUT Nov

1330 US Initial Jobless Clm 29 Nov, w/e