GRAINS-Corn to 9-month low on technicals, soy hit by bird flu

* Corn market struggles to find a bottom after USDA stocks data

* Bird flu fears pressure soybeans, soymeal, corn

* Wheat choppy as rumors of Chinese demand swirl

(Releads with further drop in corn; updates prices, adds quote) CHICAGO, April 4 (Reuters) - U.S. corn futures fell to a nine-month low Thursday on continued technical selling and fund liquidation, while soybeans hit a 10-month low on worries that bird flu cases in China may slow feed demand there, traders said. Wheat was lower in choppy trade but rumors of Chinese purchases of U.S. soft wheat underpinned the market. At the Chicago Board of Trade at 1:30 p.m. CDT (1830 GMT), May corn was down 11-1/2 cents at $6.30 per bushel after falling to $6.27-3/4, the lowest spot corn price since June 25. May soybeans were down 13 cents at $13.67-1/4 per bushel after dipping to $13.61, the lowest spot soybean price since June 6. May wheat was down 2-1/4 cents at $6.94-1/4 a bushel. Corn posted the biggest declines on a percentage basis. The market's move appeared mostly technical with sales accelerating as front-month May corn fell below Tuesday's low of $6.34. The corn market has been in liquidation mode since March 28, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported larger-than-expected U.S. grain stockpiles. "With May and July taking out the recent lows, that's a very negative technical signal. People who have been trying gently to buy this market and maybe find a bottom - you've wrecked those ideas," said Terry Linn, analyst with the Linn Group in Chicago. The May and July corn contracts also lost ground to new-crop December as traders scrambled to exit old crop/new crop spread positions.

BIRD FLU WORRIES Corn and soybeans were under pressure from fears that bird flu might spread in China, reducing demand for soybeans and soymeal, a key ingredient in chicken feed. China is the world's biggest soybean buyer. The developments weighed on markets even though the immediate impact on the country's poultry sector was unclear. "It's more psychological, more than having any impact on the actual supply and demand for feed and meal," said Anne Frick, oilseeds analyst with Jefferies Bache in New York. China said in Thursday it was mobilizing resources to combat a new strain of bird flu that has killed five people, as Japan and Hong Kong stepped up vigilance against the virus and Vietnam banned imports of Chinese poultry. Still, some analysts said China was importing less soy than a year ago, and Chinese imports could fall short of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's forecast. Strength in the dollar added pressure. The dollar and euro soared more than 3 percent against the yen in their biggest one-day moves since 2008 after the Bank of Japan unveiled a plan to pump money into the economy that was seen as a radical overhaul of policy. A stronger dollar makes dollar-denominated commodities such as soybeans less competitive on the world market. "The firmer dollar is definitely keeping the road to higher prices fully blocked," said Sterling Smith, futures specialist with Citigroup in Chicago.

CHINA WHEAT RUMORS SWIRL Wheat was choppy and pressured by USDA not confirming any major Chinese purchases of U.S. soft red winter wheat, which had been rumored. CBOT wheat had its biggest single-day rise in six months on Wednesday on speculation China had bought 10 to 14 cargoes of the grain. However, that talk continued to circulate on Thursday and traders said basis bids for soft white wheat firmed in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, a possible sign of fresh export demand. Soft white wheat is grown in the Pacific Northwest, primarily in Washington, while soft red winter wheat is produced in the Midwest and the Mid-South. Concern about weather conditions in a few areas underpinned the market. Wheat crops in parts of Europe were being threatened the world's top producers, notably France. Analyst UkrAgroConsult cut Ukraine's 2013 grain crop forecast by 1.5 percent to 52.4 million tonnes due to a significant delay in spring grain sowing caused by snowfall across central, northern and western regions. But India is considering lowering the floor price for wheat sales to private traders for exports from state warehouses, government sources said. That would kick-start shipments by this route as storage space for the world's second biggest producer is squeezed.

Prices at 1:58 p.m. CDT (1858 GMT)

LAST NET PCT YTD CHG CHG CHG CBOT corn 629.75 -11.75 -1.8% -9.8% CBOT soy 1373.00 -7.50 -0.5% -3.2% CBOT meal 397.20 -0.80 -0.2% -5.6% CBOT soyoil 48.61 -0.54 -1.1% -1.1% CBOT wheat 696.75 0.25 0.0% -10.4% CBOT rice 1569.00 4.00 0.3% 5.6% EU wheat 244.25 3.75 1.6% -2.4%

(Additional reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide and Valerie Parent in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing by Joseph Radford, Alison Birrane, Jeffrey Benkoe and Bob Burgdorfer)