* Wheat claws back about half of Friday's steep losses
* Chicago corn rises, soybeans flat as U.S. stocks in focus
Oct 2 (Reuters) - Chicago wheat rebounded on Monday on what traders characterized as "bottom-picking" after prices dropped more than 6% to three-year lows on Friday following the release of government data forecasting a larger-than-expected U.S. wheat harvest. Corn followed wheat higher, while soybeans remained near Friday's lows after a separate report showing higher U.S. soybean stockpiles sparked a sell off.
Chicago Board of Trade's most-active wheat contract was up more than 3% at $5.58-3/4 a bushel at 10 a.m. CDT (1600 GMT). Those gains come after soft red December wheat on Friday hit its lowest level since Sept. 30, 2020 at $5.40 a bushel.
"We're seeing some bottom-picking, and technical buying," said Terry Reilly, the head grains and oilseeds analyst at Marex in Chicago. "On paper it looks like a strong rally, but in reality, the market's only come back about fifty percent from where it dropped on Friday," he added. Wheat prices had already weakened to their lowest levels since December 2020, pressured by abundant Russian wheat supplies, before the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) last week estimated a larger-than-expected domestic harvest.
Monday's rally comes despite a climbing U.S. dollar and reports of continued Ukrainian success in moving grain exports by rail and by sea. Five more ships are on their way to Ukrainian sea ports using a new corridor opened to resume predominantly agricultural exports, an alternative arrangement to the Black Sea grain deal blocked by Russia.
Chicago corn gained around than 2%, hitting $4.87 a bushel, lifted by wheat prices.
"Wheat was overdone on Friday, so we saw a little bit of a bounce, and that's helped corn stabilize," said Joe Davis, the director of commodity sales at Futures International in Chicago. Soybean futures were flat to negative, trading down two cents at $12.73 a bushel, showing no signs so far of recovering any of Friday's steep losses after the USDA said U.S. soybean stocks were larger than analysts expected. (Reporting by Zachary Goelman in New York City; Additional reporting by Michael Hogan in Hamburg and Naveen Thukral; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
