(Updates prices, adds analyst quotes, additional details on Brazilian soybean market, changes dateline from Canberra/Paris)
CHICAGO, April 17 (Reuters) - U.S. soybean futures rose on Wednesday, bouncing on a round of bargain buying after the most-active July contract hit a six-week low, buoyed in part by firming Brazilian soy markets, analysts said.
Wheat futures fell on stiff global competition for export business and corn sagged for a third session as fundamental news was lacking.
As of 12:52 p.m. CDT (1752 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade July soybeans were up 4-3/4 cents at $11.64-3/4 per bushel. CBOT July wheat was down 12 cents at $5.52-3/4 a bushel and July corn was down 1-1/4 cents at $4.41-1/2 a bushel.
Prices for exportable soybeans in top global supplier Brazil have firmed in the past few weeks, analysts said, helping to support U.S. soy values.
"While we can't really post a significant rally, we're seeing our bids follow the South American market," said Karl Setzer of Consus Ag Consulting.
Wheat futures fell about 2% on technical selling along with continued weak export demand for U.S. supplies. The dollar retreated on Wednesday but hovered near a 5-1/2-month high, making U.S. grains less attractive to global buyers.
Meanwhile, Egypt's state grain buyer booked just two 60,000-ton cargoes of Ukrainian wheat at an international tender on Tuesday that attracted numerous offers of wheat originating from the Black Sea region as well as France.
Traders were monitoring dry conditions in winter wheat areas of the southern U.S. Plains and parts of Russia, but forecasts called for rains in portions of both regions.
Ukraine's farm ministry said Tuesday that the country's grain drop in grain production this would likely fall to about 52 million metric tons this year from 58 million tons in 2023.
For corn, weather is likely to impact prices more in the coming weeks. Rains were seen slowing planting in the central United States this week while also replenishing soil moisture ahead of the planting season.
"We're starting to get into more of a weather market," said Setzer. "And that's really going to start elevating our (market) volatility," he said. (Reporting by Renee Hickman; Additional reporting by Peter Hobson and Sybille de La Hamaide; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Ravi Prakash Kumar and Jane Merriman)
