GRAINS-Chicago corn edges higher as traders await key USDA supply outlook

Oil prices held firm on Thursday after Brent crude breached $100 a barrel, with traders bracing for deeper supply disruption as Iran and the United States launched their largest attacks on shipping since their six-month-old conflict began.O/R

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0600 Germany HICP Final YY August

0800 China Total Social Financing August

0800 China M2 Money Supply YY August

0800 China New Yuan Loans August

1215 EU ECB Refinancing, Deposit Rate September

1230 US Initial Jobless Clm September 5, w/e

1230 US PPI Machine Manuf'ing August

1400 US Existing Home Sales August

• The most-traded corn contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT)Cv1 nudged 0.1% higher to $5.28-1/4 a bushel by 0155 GMT. CBOT Wv1 dropped 0.4% to $7.25-3/4 a bushel, while soybeans Sv1 fell 0.2% to $13.07-1/4 a bushel.

• Grain markets are turning their attention to the USDA's supply-and-demand report due on Friday, though expectations of poor yields in the U.S. Corn Belt have continued to underpin corn prices.

• The report is expected to provide a clearer indication of the extent to which hot, dry weather this summer damaged crops in the U.S. Midwest, particularly soybeans.