March 23, 2006

 

US Wheat Review on Wednesday: Finishes mixed in quiet trade

 

 

U.S. wheat futures ended mixed Wednesday as light technical selling and the lack of any fresh news kept prices range-bound for most of the session, floor sources said.

 

"The market wasn't very dynamic, and there was not much fresh news to trade off of," a floor trader said.

 

Futures were initially higher on spillover from the firm tonnee in overnight trading and Tuesday's firm close.

 

Light technical selling emerged to trim early gains with the lack of any spillover support from corn adding to the absence of buying interest, the trader added.

 

The focus remains the weather in the U.S. Central Plains, a floor analyst said. Although the plains are expected to be mostly dry through the rest of the week, another system is forecast for the early part of next week that could bring moisture, the analyst noted.

 

A chance for light precipitation is forecast Wednesday for parts of the U.S. Central Plains with amounts expected 0.10-0.25 inch, DTN Meteorlogix Weather said.

 

Mainly dry conditions are predicted through much of the weekend, with light precipitation possible Sunday into Monday, DTN Meteorlogix Weather added.

 

On technical charts, CBOT May traded an outside day, with a higher high and a lower low than Tuesday's session.

 

CBOT May wheat fell 3 1/4 cents to US$3.49 1/4 per bushel, and July declined 2 3/4 cents to US$3.62.

 

In CBOT trades, Fimat bought 300 May and 200 July, Prudential Financial bought 300 May, Tenco bought 200 July, Rand Financial bought 100 May, Man Financial bought 100 May and ABN Amro bought 100 May.

 

Calyon Financial sold 300 May, the Refco division of Man Financial sold 200 May, DT Trading sold 200 May, Citigroup sold 100 May, JP Morgan sold 100 July and 100 September, and ABN Amro sold 100 May.

 

 

Kansas City Board of Trade

 

KCBT wheat futures ended unchanged to fractionally higher as the market continues to consolidate from oversold conditions, sources said.

 

Light buying interest supported prices early in the session but a lack of additional buying helped trim most of the gains as the session drew to a close, floor sources said.

 

News before the opening that Iraq had purchased 100,000 metric tonnes of hard red wheat for delivery in 2005-06 added early support, they noted.

 

In KCBT trades, ABN Amro bought 500 May and 200 July, Man Financial bought 100 May, 400 July and 100 December, UBS bought 300 May and 300 July and ADM Investor Services bought 500 May and 400 July.

 

Wolcott-Lincoln sold 200 July, ABN Amro sold 400 July, Country Hedging sold 150 May and 200 July, ADM Investor Services sold 200 July, and Prudential Securities sold 250 July, 250 September and 100 December.

 

KCBT May finished unchanged at US$4.17 cents per bushel, and July ended up /4 cent at US$4.20 1/2.

 

On technical charts, KCBT May settled just above its 50-day moving average.

 

 

Minneapolis Grain Exchange

 

Spring wheat futures ended higher as light commercial buying and bull market spreading underpinned futures, an MGE floor source said. Volume activity remained quiet, the source added.

 

MGE May wheat settled 1 1/2 cents higher at US$4.05, and July rose 1/2 cent to US$4.10.

 

Cash grain receipts in Minneapolis totaled 98 train cars of wheat and 157 cars of durum compared to 317 cars of wheat and 108 cars of durum a year ago.

 

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is scheduled to release the weekly export sales for the week ended March 16 at 7:30 a.m. CST. Analysts estimate sales between 300,000-500,000 metric tonnes following last week's sales of 377,300 tonnes.