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Snowfall in dry parts of U.S. Plains boosts soil moisture

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Drought-hit soy, corn crops in Argentina get rain relief

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Investor optimism on economy helps underpin grains

PARIS/SINGAPORE, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Chicago wheat, corn and soybean futures ticked higher on Tuesday, as market participants assessed rain prospects in parched Argentina and U.S. crop belts and improving sentiment among investors over economic outlook.

The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 0.7% to $7.25 a bushel by 1122 GMT, after hitting its lowest since Sept. 30, 2021, at $7.12-1/2 on Monday.

CBOT soybeans added 0.4% to $14.96-1/2 a bushel, breaking a four-session fall, and corn gained 0.6% to $6.70-1/2 a bushel.

"The macro environment is bullish for commodity money flows and should help backstop agriculture futures after yesterday's fundamental selling on improved rainfall in Argentina," Peak Trading Research said in a note.

Share prices held near multi-month highs and the dollar remained around a nine-month low against the euro, as a European business indicator and corporate earnings bolstered hopes that a sharp downturn to the global economy may be avoided.

Showers at the weekend and more rainfall forecast for the week ahead in Argentina had encouraged selling on Monday, though some traders said this may offer limited benefit to drought-worn corn and soybean crops.

The wheat market faced additional pressure as rain and snowfall across the U.S. Plains were set to ease drought affecting part of the winter wheat crop.

Comments on Monday by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who said the terms of an agreement allowing grain shipments from Ukrainian Black Sea ports were "more or less being fulfilled", also highlighted flows of Russian and Ukrainian grain despite the countries' 11-month-old war.

However, wheat futures were seen as technically oversold, leaving them liable to bouts of short-covering, traders said. (Reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing by Rashmi Aich, Uttaresh.V and Vinay Dwivedi)