CANBERRA: US wheat futures rose on Thursday and hovered near nine-year highs touched earlier this week on concerns about global supplies amid robust demand.

Corn edged higher, drawing support from wheat, while soybeans edged lower.

The most active wheat futures on the Chicago Board Of Trade were up 0.6% at $7.86 a bushel as of 0319 GMT, having closed 1.3% lower on Wednesday.

Wheat hit a December 2012 high of $8.07 a bushel on Tuesday.

"The fundamentals remain very sound. There are question marks about Black Sea and South America production and that means stronger prices," said Phin Ziebell, agribusiness economist at National Australia Bank.

Most of the sprouted Ukrainian winter grain crop is in good or satisfactory condition, while a lack of rain had affected about a third of planted areas, the state weather forecaster said on Wednesday.

In addition to supply concerns, wheat has drawn sustained support in recent days from strong demand in Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Jordan's state grains buyer purchased about 60,000 tonnes of hard milling wheat to be sourced from optional origins in a tender which closed on Wednesday, traders said.

The most active soybean futures were down 0.2% at $12.42 a bushel, having closed down 1% in the previous session.

The most active corn futures were up 0.3% at $5.65-3/4 a bushel, having closed 1% lower on Tuesday.

Traders are waiting for the US Department of Agriculture to issue monthly World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) on Nov. 9.

Analysts polled by Reuters on average expect the agency to report higher US corn and soybean production and yield estimates than October.