GRAINS-Soybeans edge up, set for 4th straight weekly rise

SYDNEY, Feb 1 (Reuters) - U.S. soybeans edged up on Friday,
rebounding from losses in the previous session, while prices
were on track for a fourth straight weekly gain on concerns dry
weather in South America will hamper crop production there.

FUNDAMENTALS
* Chicago Board Of Trade March soybeans rose 0.27
percent to $14.72-1/2 a bushel by 0033 GMT, having slid 0.69
percent on Thursday - its biggest percentage decline in a week.
Soybeans are up more than 2 percent for the week.
* March corn rose 0.17 percent to $7.41-3/4 a bushel,
having firmed marginally in the previous session. Corn is up 2.9
percent for the week, its third weekly rise in four.
* March wheat rose 0.26 percent to $7.81-1/2 a bushel,
having closed down 0.95 percent on Thursday. Wheat is up 0.65
percent for the week.
* All eyes have been on South American weather this week as
overly wet conditions stalled early soy harvest in Brazil and
persistently dry weather threatened corn and soybean crops in
neighboring Argentina. Crops from both major exporters are
crucial for replenishing tight global supplies
* The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported
stronger-than-expected export sales last week and confirmed a
large U.S. soybean sale to China for delivery in the 2013/14
marketing year, the third big sales confirmation this week.
* Private exporters reported the sale of 220,000 tonnes of
U.S. soybeans to China for delivery in the next marketing year,
raising the total for the week to 615,000 tonnes.

* Wheat under pressure after weak exports, analysts said.
U.S. wheat exports for the week ending Jan 24 totaled 387,900
tonnes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Thursday.
Analysts pegged wheat export pace sliding last week by 33
percent from the prior 8-week average.
* Corn export demand remained sluggish. USDA reported sales
last week that were only about a quarter of the sales in the
same week last year.
* India is considering allowing additional wheat exports to
cut huge stocks at government warehouses and make room for the
new season's harvest, Food Minister K. V. Thomas said on
Thursday.
* The chief bread-making wheat grown in the western U.S.
Plains states of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado and Nebraska
is expected to continue struggling through the worst drought in
over 50 years into early February and perhaps longer, an
agricultural meteorologist said.
* Commodity funds bought a net 5,000 CBOT corn contracts on
Thursday, trade sources said.

MARKET NEWS
* The yen plumbed fresh multi-year lows against its G3 peers
on Friday, having posted its biggest monthly decline in 12 years
versus the euro as the market positioned for more aggressive
easing from the Bank of Japan.
* Brent crude rose to three-month highs on Thursday,
widening its premium over U.S. crude, as concerns about rising
crude stockpiles in the U.S. Midwest prompted heavy trading
based on the spread between the two benchmarks.
* U.S. stocks edged lower on Thursday on caution ahead of
Friday's all-important jobs report, but the S&P 500 still posted
its best monthly gain since October 2011.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0100 China NBS Manufacturing PMI
0145 China HSBC Manufacturing PMI Final
0500 India HSBC Markit Manufacturing PMI
0843 Italy Markit/ADACI Manufacturing PMI
0848 France Markit Manufacturing PMI
0853 Germany Markit/BME Manufacturing PMI
0858 Euro zone Markit Manufacturing PMI
1000 Euro zone Inflation
1000 Euro zone Unemployment rate
1330 U.S. Non-farm payrolls
1330 U.S. Unemployment rate
1500 U.S. ISM Manufacturing PMI
1500 U.S. Construction spending

Grains prices at 0033 GMT
Contract Last Change Pct chg Two-day chg MA 30 RSI
CBOT wheat 781.50 2.00 +0.26% -0.70% 773.35 53
CBOT corn 741.75 1.25 +0.17% +0.20% 711.08 74
CBOT soy 1472.50 4.00 +0.27% -0.42% 1421.05 63
CBOT rice $15.49 -$0.02 -0.13% +0.55% $15.31 62
WTI crude $97.67 $0.18 +0.18% -0.28% $93.68 73
Currencies
Euro/dlr $1.361 $0.003 +0.22% +0.30%
USD/AUD 1.044 0.002 +0.15% +0.22%
Most active contracts
Wheat, corn and soy US cents/bushel. Rice: USD per hundredweight
RSI 14, exponential

(Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Himani Sarkar)