BEIJING: Chicago wheat futures slipped on Friday, but dryness concerns in ​the U.S. Plains ⁠kept prices on track for a second consecutive weekly gain.

Meanwhile, corn was headed ‌for its second straight week of gains, buoyed by strong export demand and a spike in oil ​prices earlier in the week linked to the Iran conflict. Soybeans also appeared poised to notch a ​weekly rise.

FUNDAMENTALS

* ​The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was down 0.28% at $6.18-1/2 a bushel, as of 0039 GMT.

* Soybeans were flat at $11.74-3/4 a bushel, ⁠while corn edged 0.05% lower to $4.63-1/2 a bushel.

* Drought conditions worsened in the past week in central and western Nebraska and in central and western Kansas, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor report. However, rains are expected in the central United States over the ​next 10 days, ‌which may ease ⁠stress on drought-parched ⁠wheat crops.

* Rising crude oil prices underpinned grain markets in general this week. Oil prices can ​influence grains as corn and soybeans are feedstocks for biofuels, while ‌disruptions to fertilizer supplies due to the Strait of ⁠Hormuz closure may affect farming costs and yields. * Argentina's Buenos Aires Grains Exchange on Thursday raised its estimate for the country's 2025/26 soybean harvest by 100,000 metric tons, citing higher-than-expected yields despite a reduction in the crop's estimated planted area. * Corn export sales remained robust. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported weekly net export sales of old-crop U.S. corn at 1,316,703 metric tons, in line with trade estimates, while new-crop sales topped expectations at 440,110 tons.

* Commodity funds were net buyers of CBOT corn and ‌wheat, but sellers of soybeans, traders said on Thursday.

MARKET NEWS

* Wall ⁠Street stocks dipped on Thursday and crude prices rose as ​Iran flaunted its control over the Strait of Hormuz and on signs of escalation in the Middle East, while investors parsed mixed corporate earnings.

 (Reporting by Ella Cao and Lewis Jackson; Editing by Eileen Soreng)