GRAINS-Soybeans rise with China demand in focus

By Daphne Zhang and Gus Trompiz

BEIJING/PARIS, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures rose on Friday to stay on track for a weekly gain, bolstered by higher oil prices and continued Chinese demand for U.S. supplies.

Wheat and corn eased after reaching their highest in over a week on Thursday, with modest weekly U.S. export sales and rain forecast for parched U.S. wheat belts curbing prices.

Traders were monitoring investor flows linked to annual changes in the composition of commodity indexes and looking ahead to widely tracked supply and demand data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday.

Investors were also bracing for U.S. employment figures and a possible Supreme Court decision on President Donald Trump's use of trade tariffs later on Friday. MKTS/GLOB

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Sv1 was up 0.5% at $10.66 a bushel by 1056 GMT.

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed that exporters sold 132,000 metric tons of U.S. soybeans to China.

Traders said there was talk of bigger sales as China continues to book U.S. supplies following a bilateral trade truce signed in late October.

"The deficit in U.S. soybean exports that we have seen this year continues to narrow with Chinese purchases of cargoes from the United States," said one U.S.-based analyst.

Soybean by-product soyoil BOc1 also rose, supported by firm crude oil prices linked in turn to concerns over supply disruptions in Venezuela and unrest in Iran. O/R

Soyoil often tracks crude because it is used in biofuel as a substitute for fossil fuel.

CBOT wheat Wv1 was down 0.4% at $5.15-3/4 a bushel and CBOT corn Cv1 edged 0.2% lower to $4.45-1/4 a bushel, though both cereals were set for weekly gains.

The USDA's reports on Monday will include estimates for winter wheat plantings and last year's corn and soybean harvests.

The agency is widely expected to trim its estimate of the average corn yield in last year's U.S. harvest, and peg the winter wheat area for 2026 at below last year's level.

Ample global supply continued to hang over grain markets despite mixed weather conditions in some zones.

In exporter Argentina, dry weather since last month has damaged 2025-26 corn crops in western Buenos Aires province, though significant rain was forecast in the coming days, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said.