Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) grains futures closed mixed on Thursday with soybeans posting gains for the second straight day, boosted by strong demand from China.

The most active corn contract for December delivery fell 2.25 cents, or 0.61 percent, to 3.6425 dollars per bushel. December wheat delivery went down 6.25 cents, or 1.40 percent to 4.4075 dollars per bushel. November soybeans rose 7.75 cents,or 0.84 percent, to 9.93 dollars per bushel.

A bearish tone still prevailed in grains during the session on Thursday with the charts pointing down and funds piling into larger net short positions, said analysts.

The latest U.S. weekly agricultural export data reported sales of 23.3 million bushel of wheat, 28.9 million bushel of corn, and 49.7 million bushel of soybeans. All the sales were above trade expectations, but failed to support the future prices of corn and wheat.

Especially wheat, pressured by ample world stocks, suffered a more-than-one-percent decline again, the third straight session that posted sharp losses.

After Chinese importers signed letters of intent two days ago to buy 3.8 million metric tonnes of U.S. soybeans in Omaha, Nebraska, the prices of soybeans have kept rising.