SINGAPORE, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures slid on Tuesday as expectations of ample supplies from South America weighed on prices, a day after gains in crude oil drove the market higher.
Wheat and corn prices eased.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was down 0.1% at $12.23-1/2 a bushel, as of 0115 GMT, having gained almost 1% on Monday.
* Wheat gave up 0.3% to $5.94-1/2 a bushel and corn fell 0.1% to $4.45-1/2 a bushel.
* U.S. crude oil futures rose on Monday amid supply disruptions, lending support to the soy complex due to soyoil's role as a feedstock for biofuel.
* Still, the soybean rally was capped by forecasts of record supplies from South America's top producers, including Brazil and Argentina.
* Brazil's 2023/24 soybean harvest had reached 6% of the planted area as of last Thursday, agribusiness consultancy AgRural said on Monday, up 3.7 percentage points from the previous week and above the 1.8% seen in the year-ago period.
* China's soybean imports from Brazil in 2023 jumped 29% from the prior year, customs data showed on Saturday, expanding the South American grower's dominance in the world's largest soybean market and eating into the U.S. market share.
* Forecasters expect lower production from Brazil's second corn crop because of smaller planted area, lower investment by farmers and the intense El Niño weather pattern, which brought drought to central Brazil and excess rains to the south.
* Russian wheat export prices continued to decline last week following a drop in global markets, while shipments also fell amidst challenging weather conditions, analysts said.
* Commodity funds were net buyers of CBOT soybean, soyoil, wheat and corn futures contracts on Monday and net sellers of soymeal futures, traders said.
MARKET NEWS
* MSCI's global equities index rose on Monday as Wall Street fed on momentum that took it to a new record high last week, while the U.S. dollar index edged up slightly.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0330 Bank of Japan concludes two-day policy meeting, announces decision 0500 Japan Chain Store Sales YY Dec 1500 US Consumer Confid. Flash Jan (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
