SINGAPORE, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures

rose for a third consecutive session on Friday, with the market

on track for a weekly gain underpinned by strong demand for U.S.

cargoes.

Wheat inched higher although the market remained under

pressure from improved U.S. planting weather, corn firmed.

FUNDAMENTALS

* The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of

Trade rose 0.5% to $9.99-1/4 a bushel, as of 0027 GMT,

wheat added 0.6% to $5.73-3/4 a bushel and corn

gained 0.3% at $4.12 a bushel.

* For the week, soybeans are up more than 1%, rising for a

second week in a row, corn is down 0.8% after a positive finish

last week, wheat is up 0.8%, having lost ground last week.

* Strong export demand is supporting soybean futures despite

U.S. farmers harvesting some of the largest crops in history.

* The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed private sales

of 150,000 metric tons of U.S. soymeal to undisclosed

destinations for delivery in the 2024/25 marketing year that

began Oct. 1.

* The agency reported export sales of U.S. soybeans in the

week ended Oct. 24 at 2.3 million metric tons and U.S. corn

sales of 2.3 million metric tons. Both were in line with trade

expectations.

* For wheat, rains hitting U.S. Plains are providing

much-needed moisture to the region, which was hit by dry

weather. Drought was affecting 62% of the U.S. winter wheat crop

as of Tuesday, up from 58% a week earlier, according to the U.S.

Drought Monitor.

* The European Commission on Thursday lowered virtually all

its estimates for this year's grain crops in the European Union,

which would lead to much tighter stocks at the end of the

2024/25 season in the 27-member bloc.

* In supply and demand data, the Commission put this year's

production of common wheat, or soft wheat, in the EU at 112.6

million metric tons, down two million from a month ago and 10%

below the volume produced last year.

* Argentine farms planted with corn could surpass the 6.3

million hectares (15.6 million acres) planned for the current

crop due to fewer leafhopper insects plaguing the area, after

recent harvests sustained major losses due to the bug, a major

grains exchange said on Thursday.

* Commodity funds were net buyers of CBOT soyoil futures

contracts and net sellers of soymeal and wheat contracts on

Thursday, traders said. Funds were net even in soybean and corn

contracts.

MARKET NEWS

* World stock indexes dropped on Thursday, with the Nasdaq

ending more than 2% lower after Meta Platforms and Microsoft

warned of rising costs for artificial intelligence, while the

dollar weakened slightly after U.S. data did little to suggest a

change to Federal Reserve policy.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0030 Japan JibunBK Mfg PMI Final SA Oct

0145 China Caixin Mfg PMI Final Oct

0700 UK Nationwide House Price MM, YY Oct

0930 UK S&P Global Manufacturing PMI Oct

1230 US Non-Farm Payrolls Oct

1230 US Unemployment Rate Oct

1230 US Average Earnings YY Oct

1345 US S&P Global Mfg PMI Final Oct

1400 US ISM Manufacturing PMI Oct