GRAINS-Wheat climbs on weather worries, soybeans follow crude higher

BEIJING, April 30 (Reuters) - Chicago wheat futures rose on Thursday and hovered near their highest in nearly two years, supported by concerns over dryness in the U.S. winter wheat belt.

Soybeans hit their highest level in more than six weeks, tracking higher crude oil prices. Corn remained unchanged.

FUNDAMENTALS

The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Wv1 was up 0.34% at $6.55-1/4 a bushel, as of 0041 GMT.

Soybeans Sv1 rose 0.5% to $12.03 a bushel, while corn Cv1 was flat at $4.77-3/4 a bushel.

Rainy weather in the U.S. Plains wheat belt could alleviate some of the drought stress on crops, but some areas may have already experienced yield loss. Upcoming rain is forecast to miss some dry areas.

Corn futures have been buoyed by strong export demand, slight weather concerns in the U.S. corn belt and expectations of reduced planting due to high fertiliser costs.

Taiwan's MFIG purchasing group bought about 65,000 metric tons of animal feed corn expected to be sourced from the U.S. in an international tender on Wednesday, European traders said.

Early U.S. soybean and corn planting has been making good progress, though storms expected in the U.S. Midwest could delay seeding in some areas.

Higher crude oil prices have buoyed the soy complex and corn future, as soybeans and corn are key feedstocks for biofuel production.

Commodity funds were net sellers of corn, wheat and soymeal, traders said on Wednesday. CBOT/FUNDS

MARKET NEWS

Oil prices soared on worries about prolonged supply disruption due to the Middle East war while Wall Street's stock indexes finished little changed on Wednesday ahead of high-profile earnings reports and after a divided Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady but muddied the outlook for easing. MKTS/GLOB

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0130 China NBS Manufacturing PMI Apr

0145 China RatingDog Manufacturing PMI Apr

0530 France GDP Preliminary QQ Q1

0645 France CPI (EU Norm) Prelim MM, YY Apr

0645 France CPI Prelim YY, MM NSA Apr

0645 France Producer Prices YY Mar

0755 Germany Unemployment Chg, Rate SA Q1

0800 Germany GDP Flash QQ SA Q1

0800 Germany GDP Flash YY NSA Q1

0900 EU HICP Flash YY Apr

0900 EU HICP-X F,E,A,T Flash MM, YY Apr

0900 EU GDP Flash, Prelim YY, QQ Q1

0900 EU Unemployment Rate Mar

1100 UK BOE Bank Rate Apr

1215 EU ECB Refinancing, Deposit Rate Apr

1230 US Consumption, Adjusted MM Mar

1230 US Core PCE Price Index MM, YY Mar

1230 US PCE Price Index MM, YY Mar

1230 US GDP Advance Q1

1230 US Initial Jobless Clm Apr 25, w/e