SINGAPORE, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures inched higher on Friday but the market is set for its first weekly drop in four, as harvest of an all time-high Brazilian crop kept a lid on prices.
Wheat firmed while corn was little changed with both markets set to end the week in a negative territory.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) added 0.2% to $15.29-3/4 a bushel as of 0113 GMT, wheat rose 0.3% to $7.78-1/4 a bushel and corn rose quarter of a cent to $6.76-1/4 a bushel.
* For week, soybeans are down 0.8%, wheat has lost 1% and corn have given up 0.6%.
* The soybean harvest is under way in Brazil. Consultancy AgRural lowered its forecast of Brazil's soybean crop to 150.9 million tonnes, down from 152.9 million previously, but still the largest on record, if realized.
* However, early frosts in the coming days could hurt Argentina's already beleaguered soy and corn crops in the south of the country's main farming region, the Buenos Aires grains exchange said Thursday in a report.
* Argentina's worst drought in six decades has already forced farmers to delay planting this season's soy and corn crops, lowering expectations for the season's yields.
* The U.S. Department of Agriculture is expected to release unofficial forecasts for 2023 plantings and production of major U.S. crops at its annual two-day Outlook Forum next week.
* The International Grains Council (IGC) on Thursday cut its forecast for 2022/23 global corn production by eight million tonnes to 1.153 billion tonnes.
* The cut was mainly driven by downward revisions for the United States and Argentina, the IGC said in a monthly update. The inter-governmental body also maintained its 2022/23 world wheat crop outlook at 796 million tonnes.
* Commodity funds were net sellers of CBOT wheat and corn futures contracts on Thursday and net buyers of soybean, soyoil and soymeal futures, traders said.
MARKET NEWS
* Wall Street's major stock indexes all fell more than 1% while the dollar hit a six-week peak and Treasury yields climbed on Thursday after data showed higher-than-expected U.S. producer prices for January while jobless claims fell, underscoring the view the Federal Reserve would need to keep aggressively tightening policy to fight inflation.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0700 UK Retail Sales MM, YY Jan 0700 UK Retail Sales Ex-Fuel MM Jan 0745 France CPI (EU Norm) Final MM, YY Jan 1330 US Import Prices YY Jan (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
