The US Department of Agriculture on Friday was due to release monthly supply and demand as well as quarterly stocks and other US crop data delayed last month by the partial government shutdown.
WHEAT - Down 2 to 4 cents per bushel
* Wheat fell on technical selling after the benchmark CBOT market climbed to a seven-week high on Wednesday. Positioning ahead of USDA data weighed even as analysts expected the government on Friday to show lower year-on-year plantings of US winter wheat.
* USDA on Thursday released weekly export sales for the week ended Dec. 27 - data that was delayed by the shutdown. Sales of all varieties of US wheat totaled 593,000 tonnes for that week.
* CBOT March wheat last traded down 4-1/4 cents at $5.21-3/4 per bushel. K.C. March hard red winter wheat was 4-1/4 cents lower at $5.05 a bushel and MGEX March spring wheat 2 cents lower at $5.71-1/4.
CORN - Flat to down 1 cent per bushel
* Corn did not budge from the tight range that has defined the trade throughout the week as investors continued to even positions ahead of the USDA data.
* USDA said exporters sold 503,100 tonnes of US corn in the week ended Dec. 27.
* CBOT March corn last traded down 3/4 cent at $3.79-1/4 per bushel.
SOYBEANS - Flat to down 1 cent per bushel
* Soybeans also remained within recent trading ranges in position evening before the USDA data.
* Stepped up buying of US soybeans by Chinese importers during trade talks between the two countries continued to underpin prices.
* USDA on Thursday did not release a daily export sales release, after announcing sales in recent days of nearly 4 million tonnes of US soybeans to China.
* USDA said soybean exports in the week ended Dec. 27 totaled 1.05 million tonnes, including 808,000 tonnes to China.
* Malaysia's palm oil stockpiles at the end of January are forecast to fall from the previous month's record high as production eases and exports increase, according to a Reuters survey.
* CBOT March soybeans traded down 1 cent at $9.20-3/4 a bushel.