CANBERRA - Chicago soybean futures on Tuesday edged back towards last week's 17-month high as traders waited for signs that China will buy more U.S. beans and details from a call between the U.S. and Chinese leaders.

Wheat futures slipped for a fifth consecutive session as falling Russian prices focused attention on plentiful global supply.

Corn rose slightly.

FUNDAMENTALS

* The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 0.2% at $11.25-1/4 a bushel at 0145 GMT, with CBOT wheat falling 0.1% to $5.34-1/2 a bushel and corn climbing 0.1% to $4.37-1/4 a bushel

* Soybeans last week reached $11.69-1/2, the highest since June 2024, and prices are still up around 12% from mid-October. Corn and wheat also reached multi-month highs last week.

* Fuelling the soybean rally was the renewal of Chinese purchases from the United States. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said China bought nearly 1.6 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans last week and a further 123,000 tons on Monday.

* Two cargo vessels were en route to grain terminals near New Orleans on Monday to load with China's first U.S. soybean shipments since May, a shipping schedule showed.

* But traders say substantially more Chinese buying would be needed to push prices higher.

* U.S. farmers have missed out on billions of dollars' worth of soybean sales to China in recent months, slowing U.S. soy exports sharply from last year's levels. Wheat and corn exports have exceeded last year's pace.

* The Trump administration expects to announce an aid package for U.S. farmers within two weeks and a deal on Chinese soybean purchases, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said on Monday without providing further details.

* A White House official also on Monday confirmed that Donald Trump and Xi Jinping had spoken by phone but gave no details about the call.

* In wheat, Russian export prices slipped further last week amid high global supply, but analysts said they do not expect this trend to intensify significantly.

* Seeding of the 2026 U.S. winter wheat crop is nearly over, with condition ratings rising to 48% good-excellent from 45% the prior week, the USDA said.

MARKETS NEWS

* Global stocks advanced for a second straight session on Monday as rising expectations for a December rate cut from the U.S. Federal Reserve helped to soothe recent concerns about stretched valuations in the AI space, while longer-dated U.S. Treasury yields dipped.