GRAINS-Wheat steadies after pullback, with Ukraine war negotiations in focus

Chicago wheat futures steadied on Friday after a sharp pullback from a 3-1/2-year high, with traders watching to see if fresh diplomatic efforts to end Russia's war with Ukraine would ease disruption to crucial Black Sea grain shipments.

Corn and soybeans also found a footing after retreating from multi-year highs earlier in the week. The run-up to closely watched U.S. jobs data later on Friday encouraged the quieter trend, traders said.

The most-active wheat contract Wv1 on the Chicago Board of Trade inched down 0.03% to $7.54 a bushel as of 1204 GMT.

On Thursday, the benchmark slid following comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin that a peace agreement to end the war in Ukraine remained possible. Putin's remarks triggered profit-taking after Wednesday's peak of $7.95.

"Crowded positioning magnified profit-taking, although Black Sea disruption and weather risks remain unresolved," Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, said in a note.

The Kremlin said on Friday that the possibility of a Ukraine peace settlement remained, but declined to confirm reports that U.S. envoys were expected to visit Russia and Ukraine over the weekend for peace negotiations.

Tit-for-tat attacks by Russia and Ukraine on each other's ports and shipping have brought the countries' Black Sea exports to a near halt. The squeeze led Asian wheat importers to buy at least half a million metric tons of Australian and Argentine wheat in recent deals, trade sources said this week.

CBOT soybeans Sv1 edged 0.13% lower to $13.14-1/2 a bushel while CBOT corn Cv1 was unchanged on the day at $5.40-3/4 a bushel.

Soybeans have been supported by Chinese purchases of U.S. soybeans and concerns over hot, dry weather in key U.S. growing areas.