GRAINS-Soybeans fall for second session, wheat down on ample supplies

SINGAPORE, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Chicago soybeans slid for a second session on Tuesday as the market pulled back from last week's multi-month highs, weighed down by a lack of demand from the world's biggest buyer, China, during a week-long holiday.

Wheat lost more ground as expectations of a larger crop in Russia and India's move to allow exports added to global supply pressure.

FUNDAMENTALS

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Sv1 fell 0.4% to $11.28 a bushel, as of 0121 GMT, having climbed to its highest since early December last week.

Wheat lost 1.8% to $5.38-1/2 a bushel and corn Cv1 lost 0.6% to $4.29-1/4 a bushel.

Soybean demand slowed this week as the Lunar New Year holiday in China and across parts of Asia curbed buying activity.

Soybeans rallied after U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier this month that China is considering buying more U.S.-farmed soybeans, and a report undefined in the South China Morning Post said Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping could extend their countries' trade truce for as long as a year.

The outlook for large global wheat harvests in 2026 weighed on prices. IKAR, a consultancy, raised its forecast for Russia's 2026 wheat crop, the world's largest exporter, to 91 million metric tons, up from 88 million previously.

India, on Friday, allowed the export of 2.5 million tons of wheat.

The decline in corn futures was limited by concerns over grain quality in China. Chinese buyers have ramped up feed grain purchases in recent months, taking large volumes of Australian barley and U.S. sorghum after rain damaged the domestic corn harvest, trade sources said.

Large speculators trimmed their net short position in Chicago Board of Trade corn futures in the week to Feb. 10, regulatory data released on Friday showed.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's weekly commitments of traders report also showed that non-commercial traders, a category that includes hedge funds, increased their net short position in CBOT wheat and switched to a net long position in soybeans.

MARKET NEWS

World shares steadied on Monday after Friday's drop triggered by AI-related concerns as the Lunar New Year holiday in Asia and Presidents' Day in the U.S. made for thin trading. MKTS/GLOB

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

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0700 UK HMRC Payrolls Change Jan

0800 Germany ZEW Economic Sentiment, Current Conditions Feb