SYDNEY, July 9 (Reuters) – U.S. new-crop corn futures fell for a seventh consecutive session on Wednesday as forecasts for near perfect crop weather fuel expectations for bumper production.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Chicago Board Of Trade December corn, the most actively traded contract, fell 0.2 percent to $4.03-1/2 a bushel, to trade around the contract low. Corn slid 0.5 percent in the previous session.

* September wheat rose 0.2 percent to $5.57-1/4 a bushel, having closed up 0.1 percent on Tuesday, but is also near contract lows.

* November soybeans little changed at $11.16-1/2 a bushel, having closed down 0.8 percent on Tuesday.

* The USDA on Monday reported that the corn crop was in the best shape for early July in 15 years and that soy crop conditions were the best in 20 years.

* Market readying for Friday’s monthly U.S. Department of Agriculture supply and demand report, which was expected to show higher old-crop soybean ending stocks and record-large corn and soybean harvests.

* Falling wheat prices have stirred some demand from importers, but cheaper Black Sea production has pushed U.S. wheat out of the frame in a string of tenders. Egypt’s GASC, which has bought mostly Black Sea wheat in recent tenders, issued a fresh tender on Tuesday for late-August shipment.

MARKET NEWS

* The New Zealand dollar held on to gains early on Wednesday, having scaled a fresh three-year peak on the prospect of a sovereign rating upgrade, contrasting with other major currencies which shuffled in familiar ranges.

* Brent crude slid more than $1 a barrel on Tuesday, its seventh straight decline, hitting a one-month low below $109 as Libyan oil exports looked likely to rise and fears eased of supply disruption in Iraq.

* U.S. stocks fell in a broad selloff on Tuesday, dropping for a second straight session and driving the Dow below 17,000 as investors turned cautious before the start of earnings season.

DATA AHEAD

0130 China PPI y/y June

0130 China CPI y/y June

1100 US MBA Mortgage House Index

1800 FOMC minutes

Grains prices at 0043 GMT Contract

Last

Change Pct chg Two-day chg MA 30 RSI CBOT wheat

557.25

1.00 +0.18%

+0.09%

593.52 25 CBOT corn

403.50

-0.75 -0.19%

-0.68%

440.43 13 CBOT soy

1116.50

0.25 +0.02%

-0.80%

1226.76 14 CBOT rice

$13.66 -$0.04 -0.29%

+0.33%

$13.65 60 WTI crude

$103.49

$0.09 +0.09%

-0.04%

$104.71 27 Currencies

Euro/dlr

$1.362 $0.001 +0.04%

+0.10% USD/AUD

0.941

0.001 +0.09%

+0.36% Most active contracts Wheat, corn and soy US cents/bushel. Rice: USD per hundredweight RSI 14, exponential (Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Richard Pullin)