CORRECTED-GRAINS-Soybeans on course for biggest 2-week gain in nearly 9 months

(Corrects first paragraph to port strike in Argentina, not
Brazil. Adds detail on strike ending in paragraph 12)
SYDNEY, May 24 (Reuters) - U.S. soybeans fell for the first
time in seven sessions on Friday, but are on course to post
their biggest two-week gain since August 2012 as tight old-crop
stocks, exacerbated by a port strike in Argentina, support
prices.

FUNDAMENTALS
* Chicago Board Of Trade July soybeans fell 0.32
percent to $14.32-3/4 a bushel, having firmed 0.35 percent on
Thursday.
* Soybeans are on course to finish the week up more than 3
percent, following on from gains in previous week of 3.56

Read Also

PepsiCo nearly doubles regenerative scope
Another 240,000 farm acres managed through regenerative agriculture will be supported by PepsiCo across Manitoba and Saskatchewan by the end of 2025.

percent. Two-week gains are the largest since August 31 when the
oilseed firmed more than 7 percent.
* July corn fell 0.34 percent to $6.59-3/4 a bushel,
having gained 0.53 percent in the previous session.
* Corn is poised to finish the week up 1 percent, the second
straight weekly rise.
* July wheat rose 0.25 percent to $7.05 a bushel,
having closed up 2.1 percent on Wednesday.
* Wheat is on course to finish the week up 3.1 percent,
recouping all the losses from the previous week.
* The grain complex drew support from stronger-than-expected
export sales in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA)
weekly export sales report on Thursday.
* The USDA report showed net export sales of U.S. wheat last
week at nearly a million tonnes, well above analysts' estimates.
* Soybean futures continued a recent uptrend as a port
strike in major exporter Argentina intensified the focus on the

tight short-term supply of the oilseed.
* The strike, and lengthy vessel backups at other South
American ports, raised concerns that some global demand could
shift to the United States where supplies were forecast to
shrink to a nine-year low before the autumn harvest.

* Argentine port workers ended a four-day-old strike on
Thursday, their labor union said, setting the stage for
resumption of crucial soy and corn exports.
* Rainfall over the next week to 10 days in parts of the
Midwest will delay remaining corn seedings and possibly cause a
shift from corn to soybean acreage, an agricultural
meteorologist said on Thursday.

MARKET NEWS
* The dollar was on track for its biggest daily drop in more
than five weeks against the yen on Thursday after a sharp slide
in Japanese stocks and weak Chinese factory activity data
prompted a rush for the safe-haven Japanese currency.

* Brent crude oil prices retraced earlier losses after
falling to a three-week low on Thursday in a broader commodities
selloff, riding the coattails of a late turnaround in U.S.
equities to end flat.
* U.S. stocks slipped on Thursday but finished sharply off
their session lows as a rally in Hewlett-Packard's shares offset
worries about weak Chinese manufacturing data and the prospects
of the Federal Reserve reducing its monetary stimulus.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0600 Germany Detailed Q1 GDP
0600 Germany GfK consumer confidence
0645 France Business climate
0800 Germany Ifo business climate
0800 Italy Consumer confidence
1230 U.S. Durable goods orders

Grains prices at 0036 GMT
Contract Last Change Pct chg Two-day chg MA 30 RSI
CBOT wheat 705.00 1.75 +0.25% +2.40% 704.09 59
CBOT corn 659.75 -2.25 -0.34% +0.19% 642.07 47
CBOT soy 1494.75 -4.75 -0.32% +0.03% 1402.93 62
CBOT rice $15.55 $0.00 -0.03% +1.37% $15.35 69
WTI crude $94.10 -$0.15 -0.16% -0.19% $93.19 43
Currencies
Euro/dlr $1.291 -$0.002 -0.17% +0.44%
USD/AUD 0.967 -0.008 -0.79% -0.23%
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)