* Rains to stall U.S. planting but add helpful moisture
    * Weekly U.S. corn export sales disappoint
    * Soybeans advance as domestic cash market lifts nearbys
    * Wheat lower as harvest nears; Russian weather eyed

 (Updates with closing prices)
    By Julie Ingwersen
    CHICAGO, May 16 (Reuters) - U.S. corn futures fell 1.4
percent on Thursday on optimism over seeding progress and
prospects for the new crop, while soybeans rose on tight U.S.
supplies, traders said.
    Wheat fell on technical selling and seasonal pressure as the
U.S. harvest neared, with the Chicago Board of Trade July
	

		

			
ADVERTISEMENT
			
				
	

	

			
	
	
contract hitting a six-week low.
    At the CBOT, July corn ended down 9-1/4 cents at
$6.41-1/2 per bushel after finding support at its 20-day moving
average of $6.40-1/4. July soybeans settled up 14-3/4
cents at $14.27-1/2 after reaching $14.31, the contract's
highest level since March 28. 
    Trade was thin, and rumors swirled of a hedge fund buying
soybeans and selling corn. 
    "Supposedly there was a big hedge fund in London that was
buying beans and selling corn on ratio spreads, big time," said
Charlie Sernatinger with ED&F Man Capital in Chicago. 
    Others cited favorable U.S. planting weather for corn.
Farmers in the Midwest have been planting frantically this week,
taking advantage of mostly sunny skies to catch up after a
historically slow start this spring.
    "Finally we will see some solid progress on corn planting
this week, before it gets wet again over the weekend and pushes
the farmers out of fields," said Joyce Liu, an analyst at
Phillip Futures.
    Rains this weekend and early next week are likely to stall
their progress but also add beneficial soil moisture.
    "Today's planting delays become tomorrow's moisture and will
help the crop get established," said Jim Gerlach, president of
	

		

			
ADVERTISEMENT
			
				
	

	

			
	
	
A/C Trading in Fowler, Indiana.
    Traders also appeared to be taking profits in long
July/short December spread positions in corn following the
expiration of the CBOT May contract this week, Gerlach said.
    Weekly export sales data for corn was disappointing, adding
pressure on prices. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported
corn export sales for the 2012/13 and 2013/14 marketing years at
258,500 tonnes, a 10-week low.
    
    SOYBEANS HIGHER ON FIRM CASH MARKET
    Soybeans advanced, led by nearby contracts on strength from
the U.S. cash market. Domestic soy processors continue to pay
historically high basis levels to draw out the last of the 2012
soybean harvest from the country.
    Processors are finding good demand for soymeal, a
high-protein animal feed, and crushing margins remain high while
old-crop soybeans are scarce.
    "Things are still extremely tight. The delayed planting
really pushed the window back further as far as the arrival of
the new crop," said Gerlach. He added: "Beans are where you are
going to see the greatest amount of problems in terms of
sourcing later this summer."
    Wheat prices declined as the Northern Hemisphere winter
wheat harvest approached, a time of seasonal market pressure.
Weekly U.S. wheat export sales totalled 540,700 tonnes, a
	

		

			
ADVERTISEMENT
			
				
	

	

			
	
	
three-week low.
    CBOT July wheat finished down 6 cents at $6.87-3/4 a
bushel.     
    Additional pressure stemmed from some forecasts for
much-needed rain in Russia, where dry conditions are threatening
crop prospects.
    "Showers were 0.1 to 0.5 inch (0.25 to 1.25 cm) in Ukraine
yesterday but will be increasing there and in southern Russia.
As much as 75 percent of (the) belt is likely to see needed
showers in the next five days, averting wheat stress and aiding
corn/sunflower stands," the Commodity Weather Group, a U.S.
forecaster, said in a daily note.    
    However, Russia's state forecaster said hot and dry weather
would persist in the coming days, with a high possibility of
wildfires in the Southern Federal District, the country's main
wheat exporting region. 
    Kansas City Board of Trade wheat futures followed CBOT wheat
lower but Minneapolis Grain Exchange spring wheat futures ended
mixed, underpinned by a lack of farmer selling.
    "The northern U.S. Plains farmer has significant on-farm
storage ... and is notorious for holding on to his wheat," said
Austin Damiani, a broker with Frontier Futures in Minneapolis.  
 
    
 Prices at 1:44 p.m. CDT (1844 GMT)      
                              LAST      NET    PCT     YTD
                                        CHG    CHG     CHG
 CBOT corn                  641.50    -9.25  -1.4%   -0.8%
 CBOT soy                  1427.50    14.75   1.0%   19.1%
 CBOT meal                  414.90     4.40   1.1%   34.1%
 CBOT soyoil                 49.52     0.17   0.3%   -4.9%
 CBOT wheat                 687.75    -6.00  -0.9%    5.4%
 CBOT rice                 1528.00     5.00   0.3%    4.6%
 EU wheat                   208.75    -1.50  -0.7%    3.1%
 
 US crude                    95.16     0.85   0.9%   -3.7%
 Dow Jones                  15,270       -6   0.0%   25.0%
 Gold                      1387.66    -4.63  -0.3%  -11.3%
 Euro/dollar                1.2902   0.0016   0.1%   -0.3%
 Dollar Index              83.6190  -0.2110  -0.3%    4.3%
 Baltic Freight                850      -11  -1.3%  -51.1%
 
    

 (Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen
Thukral in Singapore; editing by Clarence Fernandez, Matthew
Lewis and Marguerita Choy)