SINGAPORE - Chicago soybeans firmed on Wednesday, recovering some of the previous session's losses after Beijing reduced tariffs on U.S. farm goods, although gains were capped by expectations of weak Chinese demand for U.S. cargoes.

Corn was almost flat and wheat fell as broad market declines in crude oil and Wall Street equities added to the bearish sentiment.

China will suspend retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports following last week's meeting of their two leaders, including lifting duties on farm goods, Beijing confirmed on Wednesday, but imports of U.S. soybeans will still face a 13% tariff.

"We don't think this reduction in tariffs is going to generate demand for U.S. soybeans in China," said one Singapore-based oilseed trader. "U.S. soybeans are already more expensive than Brazilian beans."

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) added 0.9% at $11.31-3/4 a bushel, as of 0842 GMT. Corn was unmoved at $4.32 a bushel and wheat gave up 0.1% to $5.49-1/2 a bushel.

The White House has said China will buy millions of metric tons of U.S. soybeans under last week's agreement to de-escalate the countries' trade war, with Washington specifying an initial volume of 12 million tons should be booked by the end of December.

However, traders have yet to confirm large purchases of U.S. supplies, while on Monday market sources said Chinese soybean importers have stepped up purchases of cheaper Brazilian cargoes.

The U.S. government remains largely shut down, halting the U.S. Department of Agriculture's flash export sales reports.

Soymeal prices in China's Dalian exchange rose 1.5% on short-covering.

"Soymeal prices rose as some big traders scaled back a large part of their short positions following the announcement of a tariff cut," said Wan Chengzhi, analyst at Capital Jingdu Futures.

Stock markets in Asia convulsed on Wednesday as traders wrestled with a steep selloff and a surge in volatility to the highest levels in months, after valuation fears sparked a tumble on Wall Street.

Corn futures were pressured by brokerage StoneX raising its forecast of the U.S. corn yield slightly, a move that countered recent expectations of declining yield potential.

S&P Global Commodity Insights on Tuesday left its estimate of the average U.S. 2025 corn yield unchanged at 185.5 bushels per acre, but the firm raised its estimates of corn harvested area and production.

In news, European Union soft wheat exports so far this season as reported by the European Commission jumped by almost 1.8 million metric tons last week as the figures incorporated a chunk of missing data for top EU wheat producer France.