GRAINS-Wheat and soybeans ease further from multi-month highs

By Naveen Thukral and Gus Trompiz

SINGAPORE/PARIS, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Chicago wheat and soybean futures fell for a second session on Tuesday to move further back from multi-month peaks struck last week, with ample global supply weighing on wheat and a holiday break in top importer China curbing the soybean market.

Corn eased after a two-session rise as the Chicago market resumed trading after Monday's closure for U.S. Presidents Day.

The most active wheat contract Wv1 on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was down 1.8% at $5.39 a bushel by 1256 GMT. The contract had reached its highest since November 20 on Thursday at $5.53-1/2, buoyed by investor short-covering.

CBOT soybeans Sv1 edged down 0.2% to $11.30-3/4 a bushel after hitting their highest since December 1 on Thursday at $11.41-1/2.

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

However, the Lunar New Year holiday in China this week could curb immediate import activity, analysts said.

"American exporters are now waiting for tangible purchase actions to validate the prospect of a new stream of business by the end of the (2025/26) campaign," Argus Media said in a note.

The Lunar New Year break in parts of Asia, together with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan that starts this week, could lead to a general slowdown in demand from some major importers of grains and oilseeds.

Grain traders, like investors in other markets, were also awaiting the outcome of talks set to begin on Tuesday between the United States and Iran, as well as a latest round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

In wheat, news on Friday of a 3 million metric ton increase to consultancy IKAR's forecast for Russia's 2026 wheat crop, plus the announcement that India will allow the export of 2.5 million tons of wheat, drew attention back to abundant global supplies.

CBOT corn Cv1 was down 0.6% at $4.29 a bushel.

Corn has gained some support from doubts over grain quality in China. Chinese buyers have ramped up purchases of Australian barley and U.S. sorghum in recent months after rain damaged the domestic corn harvest, trade sources said.