SYDNEY - U.S. wheat futures edged down on Thursday to retreat from a three-week high touched in the previous session, but losses were checked by concerns over planting delays in North America amid recent adverse weather.

FUNDAMENTALS 

* The most active wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade were down 0.2 percent at $4.63-1/4 a bushel by 0056 GMT, having closed up 1.7 percent on Wednesday when prices marked their highest since Feb. 28 at $4.65 a bushel.

* The most active soybean futures were little changed at $9.06-1/4 a bushel, having firmed 0.1 percent on Wednesday.

* The most active corn futures were down 0.1 percent at $3.71-1/4 a bushel, having closed the last session up 0.1 percent.

    * Heavy snows and the anticipation of floods in the U.S. northern Plains spring wheat belt, particularly in top producer North Dakota, have raised the risk of delays in planting the 2019 crop. Seeding normally begins in April.

* Soybean prices firmed on technical buying and hopes for progress in U.S. trade talks with China, the world's top importer of the oilseed.

MARKET NEWS 

* The dollar nursed heavy losses in Asia on Thursday after the Federal Reserve stunned markets by abandoning all plans to raise rates this year, a signal its three-year campaign to normalise policy might be at an end. 

* U.S. crude prices rose on Wednesday to a 4-month high above $60 a barrel after U.S. government data showed tightening domestic oil supplies, but gains were capped by concerns over global economic growth due to the ongoing U.S.-China trade war.

* The S&P 500 and the Dow ended lower on Wednesday as interest rate-sensitive financial stocks dragged down the indexes after the Fed affirmed a dovish monetary policy stance.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0830   Indonesia    7-Day Reverse Repo                 March

0830   Indonesia    Deposit Facility Rate              March

0830   Indonesia    Lending Facility Rate              March

0930   UK           Retail Sames MM                    Feb

0930   UK           Retail Sales Ex-Fuel MM            Feb

0930   UK           Retail Sales YY                    Feb

1200   UK           BOE Bank Rate                      March

1200   UK           GB BOE QE Corp                     March

1230   US           Initial Jobless Claims             weekly

1500   EU           Consumer Confidence Flash          March

       Germany      General Council meeting of the ECB

 Grains prices at  0056 GMT

 Contract       Last   Change   Pct chg  Two-day chg   MA 30  RSI

 CBOT wheat   463.75    -1.00    -0.22%       +1.59%  475.23   57

 CBOT corn    371.25    -0.25    -0.07%       +0.00%  375.46   64

 CBOT soy     906.25     0.25    +0.03%       +0.25%  912.54   60

 CBOT rice     10.95    $0.01    +0.09%       +1.58%  $10.58   78

 WTI crude     60.17   -$0.06    -0.10%       +1.93%  $56.41   84

 Currencies                                                     

 Euro/dlr     $1.143   $0.002    +0.17%       +0.71%            

 USD/AUD      0.7162    0.005    +0.66%       +1.06%            

 Most active contracts

 Wheat, corn and soy US cents/bushel. Rice: USD per hundredweight

 RSI 14, exponential

 (Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Joseph Radford)

© Reuters News 2019