Wheat climbs for fourth session on short-covering, corn eases

SINGAPORE, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Chicago wheat gained more ground on Monday, with prices climbing to a more than one-week peak, while soybeans inched higher as weakness in U.S. dollar prompted short-covering in agricultural commodities.

Corn eased as forecasts for cool and rainy weather in the U.S. crop belt improved supply outlook.

FUNDAMENTALS

* The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) added 0.2% to $5.40-1/4 a bushel, as of 0018 GMT, after hitting its highest since July 25 at $5.42 a bushel earlier in the session and soybeans rose 0.2% to $10.29-3/4 a bushel.

* Corn gave up 0.3% to $4.02-1/4 a bushel.

* A weaker dollar, which makes commodities priced in greenback cheaper for buyers holding other currencies, underpinned commodity markets.

* The U.S. dollar dropped to a four-month low on Friday after a weaker-than-expected employment report for July raised expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by 50 basis points in September as the economy sours.

* French farmers had harvested 67% of this year's soft wheat crop by July 29, advancing from 41% a week earlier though well behind the usual pace as rain continued to disrupt field work, data from farm office FranceAgriMer showed on Friday.

* Moderate rains in Argentina's farming heartland over the next few days are expected to benefit the 2024/25 wheat crop, which has suffered from dry and cold conditions, the Buenos Aires grain exchange (BdeC) said Thursday.

* Speculators anticipating ample grain and oilseed supplies have amassed large net short positions in CBOT soybeans, corn and wheat futures.

* Large speculators trimmed their net short position in CBOT corn futures in the week to July 30, regulatory data released on Friday showed.

* The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's weekly commitments of traders report also showed that noncommercial traders, a category that includes hedge funds, increased their net short position in CBOT wheat and increased their net short position in soybeans.

MARKET NEWS

* Major share indices were deep in the red in Asia, as fears the United States could be heading for recession triggered mass risk aversion and wagers interest rates will have to fall sharply, and quickly, to support growth.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT, July) 0145 China Caixin Services PMI 0750 France HCOB Serv, Comp PMIs 0755 Germany HCOB Services PMI 0755 Germany HCOB Composite Final PMI 0800 EU HCOB Serv, Comp Final PMIs 0830 UK S&P Global PMI: Comp - Output 0830 UK Reserve Assets Total 1345 US S&P Global Comp, Svcs Final PMIs 1400 US ISM N-Mfg PMI (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Rashmi Aich)