(Updates for market close)

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Strong export sales data boosts wheat, corn and soy

futures

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Recovery also fuelled by short covering and technical

trading

By Heather Schlitz

CHICAGO, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade wheat

futures rebounded on Thursday after hitting a five-year low the

previous day, and corn recovered from earlier contract lows as

technical support and signs of new export demand countered the

pressure of ample supplies, traders said.

Soybeans also edged up from a four-month trough as low

prices stirred demand for the oilseed.

Abundant supply expected from Northern Hemisphere wheat

harvests and autumn corn and soybean harvests in the United

States dragged down prices the previous day.

The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade

rose 9-3/4 cents to settle at $5.18-1/4 a bushel. The

benchmark had fallen to its lowest since August 2020 on

Wednesday at $5.04 but held above the $5 floor.

"We're getting a corrective bounce with a boost from strong

export numbers, which are a function of cheaper prices," Terry

Linn, a broker at Linn & Associates, said.

CBOT December corn rose 5-3/4 cents to close at $4.07

per bushel, after most corn contracts hit lifetime lows the

previous day.

Weekly U.S. export sales, reported by the U.S. Department of

Agriculture on Thursday, showed wheat, corn, and soybean volumes

above market estimates.

That bolstered expectations that the recent price drop,

coupled with weakness in the dollar, has made U.S. crops

attractive for export.

The U.S. is expected to produce bumper corn and soy harvests

later in the year. Analysts polled by Reuters think the U.S.

Department of Agriculture will raise its estimates in a monthly

report due on Tuesday.

CBOT soybeans settled 9-1/4 cents higher to $9.93-3/4

per bushel to recover from their lowest level since April struck

a day earlier.

Fund short-covering and an uptick in demand helped fuel

price recovery, traders and analysts said.

"U.S. soybeans are the cheapest in the world clear out

through the fall, and non-Chinese buyers are scooping them up,"

Linn said.