GRAINS-Wheat set for biggest weekly gain in over a year

By Colin Packham
SYDNEY, Sept 27 (Reuters) - U.S. wheat held steady on
Friday, remaining on track to record its biggest weekly gain in
over a year on growing appetite for imports from China and
Brazil after weather damaged crops in those countries.

FUNDAMENTALS
* Chicago Board of Trade December wheat was poised to
finish the week up nearly 5 percent in its biggest weekly rise
since June 2012.
* November soybeans looked set to finish the week
little changed, having closed down more than 4.5 percent last
week.
* December corn was up 1 percent for the week - its

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first weekly gain in a month.
* The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Thursday that
old-crop export sales of wheat were 620,200 tonnes in the latest
week, which was in line with the analysts' robust expectations
of 500,000 to 700,000 tonnes.
* Stepped-up purchases by Brazil and China after weather
damaged their domestic crop have helped strengthen the wheat
market.
* A few light showers over the next two weeks will cause
only minor slowdowns in harvesting the U.S. corn and soybean
crops, MDA Weather Services said on Thursday.

MARKET NEWS
* The dollar held onto modest overnight gains in Asia on
Friday but was on track to end the week flat, hampered by the
threat of a historic U.S. debt default hanging in the air and
lack of clarity over when the Federal Reserve will scale back
stimulus.

* Oil prices firmed on Thursday in light trading, despite
easing political worries and an improving supply picture, as
traders sought bargains after sharp losses earlier this month.

* The S&P 500 and Dow snapped five-day losing streaks on
Thursday on positive job market data but gains were limited as
investors worried if Washington lawmakers would pass bills to
avoid a government shutdown and possible U.S. debt default on
time.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0645 France Consumer spending
0800 Italy Business confidence
0900 Euro zone Economic sentiment
1200 Germany Consumer inflation
1230 U.S. Personal income

Grains prices at 0013 GMT
Contract Last Change Pct chg Two-day chg MA 30 RSI
CBOT wheat 678.25 0.00 +0.00% +1.16% 652.05 76
CBOT corn 455.50 -1.25 -0.27% +0.16% 467.46 42
CBOT soy 1313.25 -3.50 -0.27% -0.64% 1340.58 37
CBOT rice $15.35 $0.03 +0.16% -0.87% $15.52 41
WTI crude $102.66 -$0.37 -0.36% +0.00% $106.62 32
Currencies
Euro/dlr $1.349 $0.000 -0.01% -0.29%
USD/AUD 0.936 0.000 -0.04% -0.11%
Most active contracts
Wheat, corn and soy US cents/bushel. Rice: USD per hundredweight
RSI 14, exponential

(Editing by Joseph Radford)