GRAINS - U.S. soy and corn firm as dollar drops

* Weak dollar supportive for grains/soy

* Better harvest weather limits rise

* Firm crude oil also lends support to grains

(Updates to include U.S. trading session, fresh analyst quotes, changes dateline from SINGAPORE/PARIS)

CHICAGO, Nov 2 - U.S. corn and soybean futures posted modest advances on Monday amid the bullish influences from a falling dollar and firm crude oil.

"The dollar dropped and crude oil gained. That's all they're talking about. Harvest weather is better but some of that was factored in the market during last week's drop," said Paul Haugens, vice president Newedge USA.

The wheat market also rose under the influence of the falling dollar.

A weaker dollar tends to support U.S.-denominated commodities by making them cheaper for holders of other currencies, while the price of oil influences grains because of their use in alternative fuels.

At 10:32 a.m. CST (1632 GMT), U.S. soy for November delivery was up 2 cents at $9.80, December delivery corn was up 4-1/2 at $3.70-1/2 and wheat for December delivery was up 7 at $5.01-1/4.

Gains were limited and the market was choppy and mixed at times during the trading session because of better corn and soybean harvesting weather in the United States.

Soybean and corn prices had been finding support from excessive wet weather that was stalling harvest and threatening to harm some of the crop but the weather outlooks have turned to a more harvest-friendly picture.

"It's not a bad forecast at all, carrying the idea from last week that we were going to start out the month of November with some of the best harvest weather we've had all season," said Mike Palmerino, meteorologist for DTN Meteorlogix weather.

Traders have been banking on the United States to produce a record soybean crop and the second largest corn crop ever this year and the harvest slowdowns had been keeping a firm floor under prices.

"The next 10 to 14 days in the Midwest Corn Belt, we are going to see fairly clear skies and pretty limited rainfall, which will be definitely conducive to farmers getting their crops harvested," said Toby Hassall, an analyst with Commodity Warrants Australia.

The bearish impact of the change this week to drier harvest weather was in a tug of war with the bullish influence of the tumbling dollar, traders and analysts said .

"We'll stay focused laser-like on the dollar and weather," said Vic Lespinasse, analyst for GrainAnalyst.com. Prices at 10:37 a.m. CST (1637 GMT)

Pct 2008 YTD

Last Change Chg Close Pct Chg --------------------------------------------------------------- CBOT corn 3.7000 0.0400 1.1 4.07 -9.1 CBOT soy 9.8000 0.0200 0.2 9.7225 0.8 CBOT meal 297.30 0.30 0.1 300.5 -1.1 CBOT soyoil 0.3669 0.0029 0.8 0.3329 10.2 CBOT wheat 5.0150 0.0725 1.5 6.1075 -17.9 CBOT rice 14.7000 0.3400 2.4 15.34 -4.2 EU wheat 127.25 0.5 0.4 137 -7.1 US crude 78.38 1.38 1.8 44.60 75.7 Dow Jones 9821 109 1.1 8776 11.9 Gold 1060.00 15.60 1.5 878.20 20.7 Euro/dollar 1.4823 0.0109 0.7 1.3978 6.0 Dollar Index 76.0290 -0.2710 -0.4 81.1510 -6.3 Baltic Freight 3185 82 2.6 774 311 ---------------------------------------------------------------- *In U.S. dollars, front-month contracts, except EU wheat, which is in euros, CBOT wheat, corn and soybeans per bushel, rice per hundredweight, soymeal per ton and soyoil per lb. (Additional reporting by Julie Ingwersen in Chicago, Naveen Thukral in Singapore and Gus Trompiz in Paris; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)