SINGAPORE  - Chicago soybean futures inched down on Thursday to ease from a six-month high reached in the previous session, although losses were limited as China made its first major purchases of U.S. beans since a truce was struck in the Sino-U.S. trade war.

Wheat rose for a second session, with prices supported by expectations of higher demand for U.S. supplies as exporters elsewhere run out of surpluses.

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade had slid 0.2 percent to $9.18-1/2 a bushel by 0314 GMT, having firmed around half-a-percent on Wednesday when prices hit their highest since June 15 at $9.28 a bushel. 

China on Wednesday made its first major purchases of U.S. soybeans since President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping struck a trade war truce earlier this month, providing some relief to U.S. farmers who have struggled to find buyers for their record-large harvest.

The purchase of over 1.5 million tonnes of beans is the most concrete evidence yet that China is making good on pledges the U.S. government said Xi made when the two leaders met on Dec. 1 and agreed to a 90-day detente to negotiate a trade deal.

"Chinese buying is supportive for U.S. prices," said a Singapore-based trader at an international trading company which owns oilseed processing plants in China.

"But the market wants China to remove 25 percent tariffs on U.S. beans so that private crushers can also buy and not just state-owned companies," he added, declining to be identified as he was not authorised to speak with media.

Wheat was up 0.2 percent at $5.27-3/4 a bushel, having closed up 1 percent on Wednesday, while corn lost 0.3 percent to $3.84-1/4 a bushel, having gained 0.1 percent in the previous session.

The wheat market is being underpinned by expectations of higher demand for U.S. cargoes early next year, with key exporters Russia and Ukraine reaching the end of their export campaigns.

Commodity funds were net buyers of CBOT soybean, wheat, soymeal, corn and soyoil futures contracts on Wednesday, traders said.

Trader estimates of fund activity in corn ranged from net buyers of 6,000 contracts to net sellers of 5,000 contracts.

(Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Joseph Radford)

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