GRAINS-Wheat slips after ample supply triggers fund sell-off

CANBERRA, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Chicago wheat futures edged lower on Wednesday after plunging to eight-week lows in the previous session, as ample supply and progress in peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine triggered selling by speculative investors.

Corn futures steadied after falling on Tuesday as cheaper wheat provided competition for corn in feed markets. Soybeans also recovered some ground after slipping to seven-week lows on Tuesday due to plentiful supply, lacklustre demand for U.S. exports and falling oil prices.

FUNDAMENTALS

• The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Wv1 was down 0.1% at $5.09-1/4 a bushel at 0143 GMT after diving 2.2% and touching $5.07-1/2, its lowest since October 23, on Tuesday.

• CBOT corn Cv1 rose 0.2% to $4.37-1/4 a bushel after falling to a three-week low on Tuesday. Soybeans Sv1 were up 0.2% at $10.64-1/2 a bushel, having in the previous session slipped to their lowest since October 27.

• Southern Hemisphere producers are pouring wheat into an already well-supplied market. The Rosario Grains Exchange last week raised its production estimate for Argentina to a record-high 27.7 million metric tons and Australia is on track for its third-biggest harvest.

• A peace deal between Russia and Ukraine would lessen risks to exports of commodities including wheat, corn and oil through the Black Sea. European negotiators reported progress in talks on Monday as Washington offered to provide NATO-style security guarantees for Kyiv.

• Brent crude LCOc1 fell below $60 a barrel on Tuesday for the first time since May, putting downward pressure on prices of biofuels and the feedstocks used to make them, including soy. O/R

• Commodity funds were net sellers of CBOT wheat, soybeans and corn on Tuesday, traders said. Their net sales of wheat were the biggest for any day since November 6, according to their estimates.

• France's farm ministry expects the area planted with winter soft wheat, the country's main cereal crop, for next year's harvest to reach 4.56 million hectares, up 2.3% from 2025 though slightly below the five-year average, it said on Tuesday.

• In soybeans, China's state stockpiler Sinograin said it would auction 550,000 tons of imported soybeans on December 19, its third auction this month. The selling makes way for arrivals from the United States.

• Argentina's oilseed workers have called a 24-hour strike for next Thursday that could impact exports.

MARKETS NEWS

• Asia shares were hesitant on Wednesday after a mixed U.S. jobs reading failed to move the needle on the rate outlook there, leaving investors awaiting further cues to guide their next move. MKTS/GLOB