February 17, 2007

 

US Wheat Review on Friday: Sharply higher; technicals, corn lead

 

 

U.S. wheat futures settled with strong gains Friday in relatively modest trade as a bullish private weather forecast helped push corn higher with wheat following, sources said.

 

CBOT March wheat rallied 14 3/4 cents to US$4.68, KCBT March wheat gained 9 1/4 cents to US$4.95 1/2, and MGE March wheat settled 8 3/4 cents higher at US$5.05.

 

The long-term forecast was bullish, and as corn rallied, wheat followed with technical buying accelerating the gains, a floor broker said.

 

Volume was light considering that the market held double-digit gains for much of the session, he added.

 

Light fund buying and the absence of strong selling interest also added to the advance, floor sources noted.

 

Fund buying in CBOT wheat was estimated at 3,000 contracts.

 

Lower-than-expected weekly wheat exports had little market impact, several traders noted.

 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that wheat export sales for the period ending Feb. 8 were 361,400 metric tonnes, below the 400,000-to-650,000 tonnes expected by analysts.

 

Wheat is the only thing short on the floor so it could see more short-covering on Tuesday, a floor source said.

 

On daily open auction technical charts, CBOT March traded to its highest level since early February and settled above its 10-, 20-, and 40-day moving averages.

 

In CBOT trades, Fimat bought 1,000 July, and Calyon bought 500 May.

 

 

Kansas City Board of Trade

 

Hard red winter wheat futures rallied, following the lead of CBOT wheat and corn, a floor source said.

 

Technical buy stops added to the gains as did moderate fund buying, the source added.

 

On daily open auction technical charts, March traded at its highest level since Jan. 23.

 

In mid-day KCBT trades, Frontier Futures bought 200 March, 100 May and 200 July. ADM bought 400 May and Fimat bought 200 March. JP Morgan sold 300 July.

 

 

Minneapolis Grain Exchange

 

Spring wheat futures settled with good-sized gains as the market was a follower of the stronger prices of wheat and corn in Chicago, a floor analyst said. There was not a lot of selling and technical buying added to the gains, he said.

 

Some spreading was noted, with people buying MGE spring wheat and selling CBOT soft red winter wheat, he added.

 

Friday afternoon the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is scheduled to release the weekly commitment of traders for the period ending Feb. 13.

 

The CBOT, KCBT and MGE will be closed Monday in observance of Presidents Day.