SINGAPORE, March 20 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures edged higher on Wednesday as unwinding of short positions by traders supported the market, while wheat firmed on worries over supplies from the Black Sea region.
Corn lost ground.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) added 0.1% to $11.86-1/2 a bushel, as of 0004 GMT. Wheat rose 0.1% to $5.53-1/4 a bushel, hovering near a one-week high hit on Tuesday, while corn fell 0.1% to $4.39-1/4 a bushel.
* The soybean market is being supported by short-covering ahead of the U.S. March 28 Prospective Plantings and quarterly stocks reports, which have a history of jolting markets.
* Overall, strong crop prospects in South America are limiting the upside potential in prices.
* Brazil's soybean harvest reached 63% of the planted area as of last Thursday, agribusiness consultancy AgRural said on Monday, up 8 percentage points from the previous week and just ahead of 62% seen a year earlier.
* Russian attacks on Ukrainian agriculture infrastructure over the weekend revived worries about disruption to massive grain exports through the Black Sea. Huge supplies of cheap Russian wheat continue to hang over the market.
* Commodity funds were net buyers of CBOT wheat, corn and soymeal futures contracts on Tuesday and net sellers of soybean and soyoil futures, traders said.
MARKET NEWS
* Global shares edged higher and the yen slid past 150 to the dollar on Tuesday after the Bank of Japan met market expectations by ending eight years of negative interest rates, likely the highlight of a busy week for central banks.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0115 China Loan Prime Rate 1Y, 5Y March 0700 UK Core CPI YY Feb 0700 UK CPI YY Feb 1500 EU Consumer Confid. Flash March 1800 US Federal Open Market Committee announces its decision on interest rates followed by statement (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
