Corn, soybeans surge by daily limits

* Huge corn and wheat exports supportive

* Markets recovering, but wheat on track for weekly loss

* Global unrest should keep prices volatile

* Coming Up: Will gains hold into next week? (Updates to include limit up moves, fresh analyst quotes, adds details)

By Sam Nelson

CHICAGO, Feb 25 (Reuters) - U.S. grains surged on Friday in a break from a week-long selloff, sparked by geopolitical concerns centered on Libya, with corn, soybeans and soyoil briefly rising by their daily trading limits and prices rising 3 to 4 percent on a flood of consumer bargain buying.

Corn rose 4 percent, its biggest percentage gain in four months as there was a respite from a wave of fund long-liquidation, but wheat was still on track for weekly losses. Wheat was about 4 percent lower for the week while corn and soy were nearly flat for the week.

"We pounded the markets hard and fundamentals hadn't changed. I think the selling has ended and end-users are seeing this as a buying opportunity," said Shawn McCambridge, analyst for Prudential Bache Commodities.

At 10:53 a.m. CST (1653 GMT), CBOT March wheat was up 40 cents per bushel at $7.87-1/4, March corn up 25-1/4 at $7.11 and March soybeans up 50 at $13.68-1/4.

"End-users will use the big dip to come back into the market. We already had a good export week for corn before the price decline so corn exports should be knocked out of the park now," said Chris Manns, president of Traders Group Inc.

Export sales last week were above analyst expectations for corn and wheat, even before prices began falling.

USDA in its weekly export sales report released on Friday said U.S. corn sales last week topped one million tonnes for the fourth straight week for the first time since April 2010.

The combined marketing year sales of 1.65 million tonnes were the most since late August, a 5-1/2 month high and the flurry of sales occurred as prices hit 2-1/2 year highs.

Net wheat export sales were the highest in five weeks but net soybean sales were the lowest in 10 weeks.

"The pull-back in prices is flushing out demand," said Brett Cooper, senior manager, markets, FCStone Australia. "There's been plenty of tender business," he said.

Grains also drew support from a general easing in tension across markets, with crude oil coming off highs and European stocks edging up.

Fears that violence in Libya will curb global oil output and choke economic growth has sent crude prices surging and other assets like stocks and food commodities tumbling.

In Europe, May milling wheat rose 2.99 percent to 250.00 euros a tonne as the market sought to find its bearings in moderate volumes.

Fundamentals of tightening stocks and strong demand remained supportive longer term for grains but operators said it was hard to say how the market would react in the short term.

The U.S. government said on Thursday U.S. farmers this year would plant the second largest amount of corn in nearly 70 years, but stocks next season would remain thin. (Reporting by Sam Nelson; additional reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago, Bruce Hextall in Sydney, Gus Trompiz in Paris; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

(Source: http://www.futurespros.com/news/grains-news/grains-corn,-soybeans-surge-by-daily-limits-1000008162)