CANBERRA, Nov 30 (Reuters) - U.S. wheat futures held steady on Tuesday, after hitting a two-week low earlier as the U.S. Department of Agriculture said the conditions of U.S. crops were better than expected, stoking expectations of bumper global supplies.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The most active wheat futures on the Chicago Board Of Trade steady at $8.22 a bushel by 0245 GMT, near the session low of $8.18 a bushel - their lowest since Nov 16. Wheat closed down 2.1% on Monday
* The most active soybean futures were up 1.2% at $12.67-1/4 a bushel, after ending down 0.9% on Monday.
* The most active corn futures were up 0.1% at $5.87-1/4 a bushel, having closed down 1% in the previous session.
* The USDA in its last weekly crop progress report for 2021 on Monday rated 44% of U.S. winter wheat in good to excellent condition, steady with the previous week, despite trade expectations for a slight decline.
* Australia's chief commodity forecaster raised its official estimate for the 2021/22 crop.
* Global wheat markets had rallied early last week on concerns that excessive harvest-time rains damaged wheat crop quality.
* The U.S. corn and soybean harvests are virtually complete, with the USDA reporting both crops as 95% harvested by Nov. 21.
MARKET NEWS
* The dollar hovered above the one-week low against major peers it hit last week, as fears eased that the new Omicron coronavirus variant would derail the U.S. recovery and delay Federal Reserve interest rate hikes.
* Oil prices climbed, extending a rebound from last week's plunge on growing expectations major producers would pause plans to add crude supply in January amid uncertainty over the severity of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
* A semblance of calm returned to world markets on Monday as investors waited for more details to assess the severity of the Omicron coronavirus variant on the world economy, allowing battered stocks and oil prices to rebound.
(Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
