CANBERRA, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures were flat on Wednesday, having dropped nearly 2% in the previous session after rainfall in top exporter Brazil eased supply fears and a sharp rise in the dollar made U.S. agricultural commodities less attractive to foreign buyers.

Corn and wheat futures edged higher after a steep drop on Tuesday.

FUNDAMENTALS

* The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) held its ground at $12.74 a bushel by 0120 GMT. The contract dropped to $12.67 on Tuesday, its lowest since Oct. 12.

* CBOT corn rose 0.2% to $4.64-1/2 a bushel after slipping 1.6% on Tuesday while wheat was up 0.3% at $6.08-1/4 a bushel after a 3.4% slump in the previous session.

* The U.S. dollar dipped, having strengthened by nearly 1% against a basket of major peers on Tuesday.

* Rains in northern Brazil -- the world's largest producer and exporter of soybeans -- are helping to slowly improve moisture and crop conditions, and are expected to remain "very active" this week, forecaster Maxar said.

* Lack of rain has already taken a toll on yields, with brokers StoneX cutting their estimate for Brazil's 2023/24 soybean crop by 9.1 million metric tons to 152.8 million tons.

* However, higher supply from other South American producers is likely to offset losses in Brazil, said StoneX analyst Arlan Suderman.

* "Buyers have not yet seen the need to increase imports of U.S. soybeans to compensate for a 'short' Brazil crop. Part of the reason for that has been expectations for the Argentine crop to nearly double this year to close to 50 million metric tons, while increased production is also expected in Paraguay and Uruguay," Suderman said.

* While U.S. soybean exports have been lacklustre, local demand remains strong, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture reporting that 200.1 million bushels of soybeans were crushed in November, more than the 199.7 million bushels analysts had expected.

* Funds remain broadly bullish on Chicago soybeans, but were net sellers of soybean, corn and wheat futures on Tuesday, traders said.

* Turning to corn, StoneX reduced its forecast for Brazil's 2023/24 production by 1.4 million metric tons to 124.6 million tons.

* Speculators have entered 2024 with some of their most bearish-ever views towards CBOT corn, but in years past, that positioning has rarely proven sustainable in the months that followed.

* Following an attack on a vessel at the weekend, Denmark's Maersk and German rival Hapag-Lloyd said on Tuesday their container ships would continue to avoid the Red Sea route that gives access to the Suez Canal.

* Ukraine has exported 13 million tonnes of cargo through its Black Sea shipping corridor, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said.

MARKETS NEWS

Stocks in Europe and on Wall Street fell on Tuesday, along with prices for U.S. government debt, on ebbing market optimism about timely interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.

(Reporting by Peter Hobson; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)