SINGAPORE: Chicago corn futures rose around half a percent on Thursday, regaining some ground after sliding 2 percent in the last session, while wheat edged higher on worries about dry weather threatening crops in the world's top suppliers.
Soybeans extended gains in early Asian trade.
The weather forecasts are starting to show a little change in pattern from May 1, with the European model calling for turn to warmer and drier weather in the US Midwest.
Corn dropped to its lowest in nearly three weeks on Wednesday as a drier weather forecast for the US Corn Belt eased concerns about delayed spring planting.
Signs of slowing corn use by ethanol makers, which were expected to consume 40 percent of the crop this year, further pressured corn on Wednesday as the government said production of the grain-based bio-fuel fell to the lowest level in nearly seven months after a fourth straight weekly decline.
Corn gained earlier this week on worries that wet weather and cooler-than-normal temperatures would delay planting in the US Midwest, potentially threatening yields in the world's top exporter at a time when supplies are exceptionally tight.
As weather fears eased in corn, wheat remained under threat from dry weather in winter wheat areas of the United States and Europe and soggy conditions in the northern US Plains and Canada that have delayed seeding of spring-planted wheat.
Prolonged drought conditions through Texas, Oklahoma and southern areas of Kansas, the top US wheat growing state, have left wheat industry experts fearing there is little hope for much of the new wheat crop due to be harvested this summer.
A record corn crop forecast for 2011/12 has boosted the outlook for global grain production, but stocks are expected to remain low, the International Grains Council said.
The IGC raised its forecast for global 2011/12 grain production by 3 million tonnes to 1.808 billion, up 4.5 percent year-on-year.
Argentina's Agriculture Ministry increased its 2010/11 soy harvest forecast to 50.4 million tonnes from 50 million tonnes as rains improved yields, the government said in a monthly report.
More than 54 percent of Argentina's 2010/11 soy crop has been brought in despite wet weather over the last week that delayed harvesting, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said in its weekly report.
Commodity funds were net sellers of an estimated 14,000 contracts of Chicago Board of Trade corn futures on Wednesday. They were net buyers of an, estimated 1,000 wheat and bought 5,000 soybean contracts.
The dollar plummeted on Wednesday against major and emerging market currencies as the prospect that US interest rates would remain at record lows encouraged investors to seek higher returns elsewhere.
Brent oil jumped 2 percent to near $124 a barrel on Wednesday as US crude oil inventories fell for the first time in seven weeks and the dollar weakened sharply, fuelling investor appetite for riskier assets.
Big earnings surprises gave a positive turn to investor sentiment on Wednesday, propelling US stocks to their best day in a month and lifting the Dow industrials to their highest in almost three years.
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