CHICAGO, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Spot basis bids for corn and soybeans were mostly steady to higher in the U.S. Midwest on Tuesday as Chicago Board of Trade futures tilted lower.

* The soy basis ticked up at a Cincinnati, Ohio, elevator and was steady elsewhere, spot checks showed.

* The corn basis improved at a Seneca, Illinois river terminal.

* Forecasts of rain relief for Argentina crops encouraged traders to book profits after dollar-fueled gains in the previous session.

* Traders are positioning ahead of Friday's U.S. Department of Agriculture reports, which will include quarterly grain stocks and winter wheat seeding estimates.

* Hot, dry weather in large parts of Argentina has begun to damage the country's soy and corn crop and has helped boost CBOT futures.

* U.S. exporters sold 110,000 metric tons of corn to Colombia for 2024/25 delivery, the USDA reported on Tuesday morning.

Basis values are quoted against CBOT futures in cts/bu:

NOTE: 0 = Option price, UNC = Unchanged, UNQ = Unquoted

NC = Not comparable, DP = Delayed price, N/A = Not available,

F = January, H = March, K = May, N = JulyQ = August, U = September, X = November, Z = December

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LINKS: 0#USCSHGRN-PM

For U.S. forward basis spreadsheets, please click:

CORN/BASIS, SOYA/BASIS, WHEAT/BASIS, MILO/BASIS

- CBOT corn report COR/

- CBOT soybean report SOY/C

- CBOT wheat report WHE/C

- U.S. grain barge freight values BG/US

- U.S. Midwest cash grain PM GRA/PM

- U.S. CIF/FOB Gulf Grain GRA/F

(Reporting by Heather Schlitz; editing by Barbara Lewis)

((Heather.Schlitz@thomsonreuters.com;))