Wheat rises after 6-day losing streak, but strong US dollar weighs
Adds analyst comment, updates prices
CANBERRA, Dec 20 (Reuters) -Chicago wheat futures edged higher on Friday but were set for a 3.3% weekly drop, pressured by a firmer U.S. dollar and ample supply despite forecasts of a tighter market next year.
Soybean futures were flat and headed for a 2.2% weekly loss after plunging on Thursday to a four-year low ahead of what is expected to be a vast Brazilian harvest.
Corn inched higher and was almost steady for the week, holding near the 5-1/2-month high reached last week when the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) lowered its forecast for U.S. end-of-season inventories.
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade Wv1 was up 0.2% at $5.34-1/4 a bushel, as of 0357 GMT, eking out a gain after six consecutive sessions of decline. Prices were close to July's four-year low of $5.14.
The U.S. dollar index .DXY sat at a two-year high after the Federal Reserve this week signalled a slower easing trajectory in 2025. A stronger dollar makes U.S. crops less competitive on the global market. FRX/
The wheat market remains adequately supplied, with still-large Russian shipments and Ukraine's exports running well ahead of last season's pace.
Harvests now wrapping up in Argentina and Australia exceeded expectations, and EU production should rise next year from a 12-year low this season.
However, Russian shipments are slowing and are expected to slow much more in coming months, and consultancy Sovecon cut its 2025 Russian crop estimate by 3 million tons this week.
"The market is relatively well supplied overall, but when you just look at the top 8 exporters things are a little tighter," said Andrew Whitelaw at Episode 3.
"The Russian downgrades are a concern," he said, adding that further crop downgrades would be key to any big price rises.
In other crops, CBOT corn Cv1 was 0.1% higher at $4.41-1/4 a bushel and soybeans Sv1 rose 0.1% to $9.67 a bushel.
Soybeans received some support on Friday from news that China's Sinograin purchased nearly 500,000 metric tons of U.S. beans this week for shipment in March and April, according totraders familiar with the deals.
Reporting by Peter Hobson; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Subhranshu Sahu
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