SINGAPORE, July 16 (Reuters) - Chicago soybeans inched higher on Tuesday with bargain-buying supporting the market, which dropped to its lowest levels in almost four years in the previous session as traders weighed the consequences of ample global supply.
Wheat edged higher after deep losses, although the market is likely to face headwinds from improved crop prospects in Russia.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 0.5% at $10.44-3/4 a bushel, as of 0008 GMT, after dropping to its lowest since October 2020 on Monday.
* Wheat gained 0.5% at $5.35 a bushel and corn added 0.7% to $4.07 a bushel.
* After the market closed on Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) rated 68% of the U.S. corn and soybean crops in "good to excellent" condition, unchanged from the previous week.
* The ratings fell short of analyst expectations for a slight improvement, but were still the highest for this time of year for both crops since 2020.
* Analysts said U.S. crops benefited last week from the remnants of Hurricane Beryl, which brought showers to dry areas of the eastern Midwest crop belt. More rain fell over the weekend, and forecasts called for milder temperatures this week after a spell of hot weather.
* "The rainfall in the north-central Midwest over-performed expectations from Friday and favoured corn and soybeans," satellite technology company Maxar said in a daily crop weather note.
* Improved weather in the U.S. Midwest has boosted corn and soybean prospects.
* Brazilian farmers in the key center-south region had harvested 74% of their second corn crop for the 2024 cycle, as of last Thursday, up from 63% in the previous week, agribusiness consultancy AgRural said on Monday.
* The pace of work was well above the 36% level seen a year earlier, as farmers in large states such as Mato Grosso enjoyed good weather during the harvest.
* The U.S. soy crush declined in June and fell below most trade estimates but was still the highest on record for the sixth month of the year, according to National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA) data released on Monday.
* Wheat has faced pressure in recent weeks by the Northern Hemisphere winter wheat harvest and prospects of sizable crops in top exporter Russia and the United States.
* Russia's IKAR agricultural consultancy raised its forecast for the country's wheat crop to 83.2 million metric tons, from 82 million tons previously.
* The USDA on Friday raised its projection of the U.S. 2024 wheat harvest to 2.008 billion bushels, topping a range of analysts' expectations.
* Commodity funds were net sellers of Chicago Board of Trade corn, soybean, wheat and soymeal futures contracts on Monday and net buyers of CBOT soyoil futures, traders said.
MARKET NEWS
* World stock indexes and Treasury yields rose on Monday as investors weighed the prospect of Republican Donald Trump winning the U.S. presidential race after he survived an assassination attempt, while the dollar dipped after comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0900 EU Total Trade Balance SA May 0900 Germany ZEW Economic Sentiment July 0900 Germany ZEW Current Conditions July 1230 US Import Prices YY June 1230 US Retail Sales MM June (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
