Wheat dips from 5-week top, dry weather limits losses

SINGAPORE - Chicago wheat futures slid on Thursday, easing from their highest in more than five weeks although concerns over supplies from the Southern Hemisphere provided a floor under the market.

Soybeans were little changed following two days of losses triggered by benign U.S. weather and a lack of demand, while corn ticked lower.

The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board Of Trade lost 0.6% at $4.86-3/4 a bushel, as of 0252 GMT, having climbed to its highest since Aug. 12 at $4.92-1/2 a bushel on Wednesday.

Soybeans were up just a quarter of a cent at $8.89 a bushel and corn was down 0.1% at $3.71 a bushel.

Dry weather in Australia and Argentina is expected to reduce yields.

"Winter crop estimates in Australia are still being revised lower," said Tobin Gorey, director of agricultural strategy, Commonwealth Bank of Australia. "Argentinean winter crop forecasts are also at some risk of downgrade."

In the U.S. Midwest, forecasts call for mild weather, limiting the threat of frost for the soybean crop.

The market awaits fresh export sales data due to be released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) early on Thursday.

Analysts surveyed by Reuters expected wheat and soybean sales to be down from the prior week's robust pace, while corn sales were seen rising following a drop in prices.

Expectations of record corn harvest in Brazil are likely to weigh on prices.

Despite a slower start to soybean planting this year in Brazil, the country's 2019/20 corn crop, most of which is planted after the soy harvest, is expected to surpass the 100 million-tonne mark for the first time.

According to the average estimate of nine forecasters, Brazil's corn crop in the season kicking off this month is likely to yield 102.3 million tonnes, a 2.3% increase from the government's estimate for the prior harvest, when farmers collected 99.98 million tonnes of corn.

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

(Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)