SYDNEY - U.S. corn futures edged lower on Tuesday, retreating from a 17-day high touched in the previous session, after the U.S. Department of Agriculture pegged the condition of the crop above market expectations.

FUNDAMENTALS 

The most active corn futures on the Chicago Board Of Trade were down 0.1% at $3.73-1/2 a bushel, as of 0008 GMT, having closed up 1.4% on Monday when prices hit an Aug. 30 high of $3.75 a bushel.

The most active soybean futures were little changed at $8.99-3/4 a bushel. Soybeans ended 0.1% higher on Monday, when prices hit a July 30 high of $9.05 a bushel.

The most active wheat futures were down 0.4% at $4.86-3/4 a bushel, having closed up 0.9% in the previous session.

The USDA said 55% of the U.S. corn crop is in good-to-excellent condition, slightly ahead of market expectations.

The USDA said 54% of the U.S. soybean crop is in good-to-excellent condition, matching analysts' forecasts.

The USDA said 76% of the U.S. spring wheat crop has been harvested, lagging well behind market expectations.

National Oilseed Processors Association report pegged August crushings at 168.085 million bushels, above the average trade estimate of 162.018 and the seventh highest crush on record for any month.

The USDA on Monday confirmed private sales of 256,000 tonnes of U.S. soybeans to China stoking hopes of a thawing in the U.S.-China trade war.

MARKET NEWS 

The euro got off to an unusually quiet start in Asia on Monday, having posted its worst weekly performance in three months, as investors await more developments and ratings downgrades from Europe. 

Oil ended nearly 15% higher on Monday, with Brent logging its biggest jump in over 30 years amid record trading volumes, after an attack on Saudi Arabian crude facilities cut the kingdom's production in half and fanned fears of retaliation in the Middle East. 

Energy stocks spiked while most of Wall Street fell on Monday after weekend attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities added to investors' concerns about geopolitical risk and a stumbling global economy.     

(Reporting by Colin Packham, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

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