SINGAPORE  - Chicago corn futures lost ground on Monday, giving up last session's gains as a firmer dollar and weak demand put pressure on prices, although losses were capped by a lower-than-expected U.S. production forecast.

Soybeans slid for a second session, while wheat fell for a third consecutive session.

The most-active corn contract on the Chicago Board Of Trade was down 0.4% at $3.75-3/4 a bushel by 0340 GMT. It had gained 0.5% in the previous session.

Soybeans were down 0.5% at $9.26-1/2 a bushel, having closed down 0.6% on Friday. Wheat Wv1 lost 0.2% to $5.09 a bushel, following a 0.4% slide in the previous session.

"A stronger dollar and poor demand for U.S. supplies are weighing on corn and beans," said Phin Ziebell, agribusiness economist at National Australia Bank.

The uncertainty surrounding an interim U.S.-China trade agreement also poses a risk to prices, he added.

President Donald Trump on Friday said he has not agreed to rollbacks of U.S. tariffs sought by China, sparking fresh doubts about when the world's two largest economies may end a 16-month trade war that has slowed global growth.

However, prices were lent some support by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) move to lower its corn harvest outlook on Friday to 13.661 billion bushels, from 13.779 billion a month earlier.

The outlook was based on an average yield of 167.0 bushels per acre (bpa), down from 168.4 previously.

End-of-season U.S. corn stocks were trimmed to a still-abundant 1.91 billion bushels, while exports were lowered by 50 million bushels.

The agency pegged the soybean crop at 3.550 billion bushels, with yields seen at 46.9 bpa, unchanged from October.

Forward sales of Argentine corn and soybeans are zooming higher versus last year as growers hedge against possible increases in export taxes under President Alberto Fernandez, who is set to take office on Dec. 10.

In parts of Europe, heavy rains have delayed grain sowings with the situation particularly severe in Britain where they could trigger a significant shift to spring planted crops.

Large speculators widened their net short position in Chicago Board of Trade corn futures in the week ended Nov. 5, regulatory data released on Friday showed.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's supplemental commitments of traders report showed that noncommercial traders, a category that includes hedge funds, expanded their net short position in CBOT corn to 156,448 contracts, an increase of 12,480 lots for the week.

 

(Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Aditya Soni) ((naveen.thukral@thomsonreuters.com; +65-6870-3829; Reuters Messaging: naveen.thukral.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))