SINGAPORE, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Chicago soybeans ticked higher on Thursday, having slid for the last three sessions on pressure from technical selling and rains across South America easing supply worries.
Wheat and corn prices gained ground with additional support from broad-based gains in world markets, lifted by expectations that newly inaugurated U.S. President Joe Biden would put in place further economic stimulus.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) most-active soybean contract added 0.7% to $13.79 a bushel, as of 0112 GMT. The market dropped to its lowest since Jan. 8 at $13.52 a bushel in the last session.
* Wheat rose 0.5% to $6.70-3/4 a bushel and corn gained 1.1% to $5.27-3/4 a bushel.
* Soybeans could face increased volatility as markets look for direction before the South American harvest begins in force.
* China's soybean imports from the United States rose by 52.8% in 2020 from a year earlier, customs data showed on Wednesday, though the stepped up buying likely fell short of what was needed to fulfil last year's trade deal between the countries. [nL1N2JV0KY
* The world's top soybean buyer last year brought in 25.89 million tonnes of the oilseed from the U.S., its second-largest supplier, up from 16.94 million tonnes in 2019.
* Argentine farmers have dramatically increased sales from the upcoming 2020/21 corn harvest, due to concern the government may yet again try to limit international sales.
* The agriculture ministry has caused uncertainty by going back and forth in recent weeks on policies seeking to ensure ample food supplies by limiting international shipments of corn. Argentina is the world's No. 3 exporter of the grain.
* Wheat was supported by impending Russian export taxes, though expected rainfall across the United States limited gains.
MARKET NEWS
* Asian markets were set to rise on Thursday after U.S. stocks closed at record highs on hopes newly inaugurated U.S. President Joe Biden would put in place further economic stimulus to offset damage wreaked by the COVID-19 pandemic.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0030 Australia Employment Dec 0030 Australia Unemployment Rate Dec 0745 France Business Climate Mfg Jan 0900 US Philly Fed Business Indx Jan 1245 EU ECB Refinancing Rate Jan 1245 EU ECB Deposit Rate Jan 1330 US Housing Starts Number Dec 1330 US Initial Jobless Clm Weekly 1500 EU Consumer Confid. Flash Jan (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
