U.S. wheat futures postedtheir biggest gain in two weeks on Wednesday as bullish outsidemarkets lifted prices that have fallen more than 9 percent sofar this year amid plentiful global supplies, traders said.Soybean futures notched their third straight day of gains,as purchases by investment funds boosted prices amid thinvolume."I think it (the grain futures market) is stillfundamentally weak, pretty much across the board," said FrankCholly, senior market strategist at brokerage Lind-Waldock inChicago. "The market sold off really hard (early this year), itmight have been a little bit overdone."Corn futures also rose but continued expectations for largeplantings in the U.S. Midwest this spring despite soggy fieldconditions limited gains."People are talking about planting delays for corn, but Ithink it's ridiculous because it's still early," said PaulHaugens, vice-president for Newedge USA.Rising crude oil prices and an equities market rally lentstrength to agricultural futures amid the lack of any newfundamental news, traders said.At 11:15 a.m. CDT (1615 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade softred winter wheat for May delivery was up 8-1/2 cents, or 1.8percent, at $4.95-1/2 a bushel. Wheat's rally put it on trackfor its biggest gain on a continuous price chart since the spotcontract gained 2.3 percent on March 3.Traders also were keeping an eye on weather in the northernU.S. Plains spring wheat belt, where the Red River was expectedto reach a major flood stage on Wednesday.Some market watchers have said the earlier-than-usualspring melt that was causing problems around crucial cropgrowing areas of the United States could actually be a positivefactor for the crops.CBOT May soybeans were up 7-3/4 cents at $9.52-3/4 a bushelwhile CBOT May corn gained 3 cents at $3.69-3/4 a bushel.A weak dollar, which makes U.S. commodities more attractiveas a hedge against inflation, provided support to corn,soybeans and wheat early, but the currency turned higher bylate morning."It is choppy today and I think the key (is) the outsidemarkets," said Joe Bedore, CBOT floor manager for trade houseFC Stone. "There is quiet trade and the outsides are kind ofchoppy too."Despite rising grains prices over the past week, mosttraders still think the bleak fundamental picture will cast abearish tone on the market and keep prices stuck in a narrowtrading range."We're being boosted by the context on financial markets,"a French trader said. "It's giving us a bit of breathing spacebefore a fresh slide."Prices at 11:18 a.m. CDT (1618 GMT)Pct    2009     YTDLast   Change   Chg    Close Pct Chg---------------------------------------------------------------CBOT corn      <Cc1>    3.7000   0.0325   0.9    4.145  -10.7CBOT soy       <Sc1>    9.5275   0.0775   0.8  10.3975   -8.4CBOT meal      <SMc1>   264.10     2.60   1.0    313.9  -15.9CBOT soyoil    <BOc1>   0.3967   0.0030   0.8   0.4035   -1.7CBOT wheat     <Wc1>    4.9575   0.0875   1.8    5.415   -8.4CBOT rice      <RRc1>  12.6550   0.0500   0.4   14.565  -13.1EU wheat       <BL2K0>  124.00     1.75   1.4      131   -5.3US crude       <CLc1>    82.28     0.58   0.7    79.36    3.7Dow Jones      <.DJI>    10732       46   0.4    10428    2.9Gold           <XAU=>  1124.55    -0.15   0.0  1096.35    2.6Euro/dollar    <EUR=>   1.3752  -0.0017  -0.1   1.4316   -3.9Dollar Index   <.DXY>  79.6740  -0.0790  -0.1  77.8600    2.3Baltic Freight <.BADI>    3427      -71  -2.0     3005   14.0---------------------------------------------------------------*In U.S. dollars, front-month contracts, except EU wheat, whichis in euros, CBOT wheat, corn and soybeans per bushel, rice perhundredweight, soymeal per ton and soyoil per lb.