SINGAPORE, March 8 (Reuters) - Chicago wheat inched higher on Friday, with short-covering supporting prices after recent declines, although the market is on track for a second week of losses on lack of demand and plentiful global supplies.
Corn is poised for a third week of gains, while soybeans are up for a second week on positioning ahead of a monthly supply/demand report due later in day from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
FUNDAMENTALS
* The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) added 0.1% to $5.29-1/4 a bushel, as of 0118 GMT, corn gave up 0.1% to $4.37-1/2 a bushel and soybeans gained half a cent to $11.66-3/4 a bushel.
* For the week, wheat has lost close to 5%, corn is up nearly 3% and soybeans have risen 1.5%.
* China cancelled purchases of 130,000 metric tons of U.S. soft red winter wheat, the USDA said on Thursday, after prices dropped since Chinese importers went on a buying spree last year.
* Egypt's state grains buyer, the General Authority for Supply Commodities cancelled an international tender for wheat that had a deadline for offers of March 7.
* Global wheat buyers are booking cargoes for immediate needs, buying just one or two months in advance on expectations of bumper northern hemisphere harvest in the second half of the year.
* Eight in 10 hectares (19.8 to 24.71 acres) of Argentine soybean fields are in "normal to excellent" condition, the Buenos Aires grains exchange said on Thursday, thanks to recent rainfall over northern parts of the South American country.
* Soybean imports for top oilseed buyer China fell to a five-year low for the first two months of the year, weighed down by poor crushing margins and fewer ship arrivals during the Lunar New Year holidays.
* Commodity funds were net buyers of CBOT corn, soybean, soyoil, soymeal and wheat futures contracts on Thursday, traders said.
MARKET NEWS
* Global stock indexes rallied to record highs on Thursday, while government bond yields fell after the European Central Bank held interest rates steady and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated that easing was likely in 2024 if inflation behaved.
DATA/EVENTS AHEAD (GMT) 0700 Germany Industrial Output MM, YY Jan 1000 Euro Zone GDP Revised QQ, YY Q4 1330 US Non-farm Payrolls Feb 1330 US Unemployment Rate Feb (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
