SINGAPORE, May 1 (Reuters) - Chicago wheat futures slid on Monday, with prices trading close to last week's lowest in almost two years, as rain in the U.S. Plains and easing concerns over Ukrainian supplies weighed on the market.
Corn fell, while soybeans were largely unchanged.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) lost 0.5% to $6.30-1/2 a bushel, as of 0032 GMT and corn gave up 0.4% to $5.82-1/2 a bushel. Soybeans were flat at $14.19-1/4 a bushel.
* Recent rain in the drought-hit U.S. Plains and forecasts for more have eased concerns about hard red winter wheat production.
* In a sign more Ukrainian grain may hit the market, the European Commission said on Friday it had reached a deal in principle to allow the transit of Ukrainian grain to resume through five European Union countries that had imposed restrictions.
* The corn market is facing headwinds as a large Brazilian crop is easting into demand for U.S. supplies.
* A bumper Brazilian soybean crop is also expected to flow onto export markets, offsetting a drought-hit harvest in Argentina.
* Large speculators increased their net short position in Chicago Board of Trade corn futures in the week to April 25, regulatory data released on Friday showed.
* The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's weekly commitments of traders report also showed that noncommercial traders, a category that includes hedge funds, increased their net short position in CBOT wheat and cut their net long position in soybeans.
MARKET NEWS
* U.S. stocks rallied to a higher close on Friday and benchmark Treasury yields dipped at the end of a week marked by strong earnings, wrapping up a solid month with data confirming inflation is cooling, which could allow the Federal Reserve to pause after next week's expected rate hike.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT, April) 1345 US S&P Global Mfg PMI Final 1400 US ISM Manufacturing PMI (Reporting by Naveen Thukral)
