US Wheat Review on Friday: Slumps to new contract lows again

 

 

U.S. wheat futures dipped Friday and touched new contract lows for the second consecutive day as the markets consolidated after tumbling.

 

Nearby Chicago Board of Trade May wheat ended down 1 3/4 cents, or 0.4%, at US$4.64 3/4 per bushel. The contract closed 19 cents lower on the week.

 

Kansas City Board of Trade May wheat slipped 1 1/4 cents, or 0.3%, to US$4.75 1/2. Minneapolis Grain Exchange May wheat slipped 3/4 cent, or 0.2%, to US$4.97.

 

Traders took a step back after prices fell hard Thursday on technical selling. CBOT May wheat Friday set a fresh contract low of 4.64 after setting the previous low of US$4.64 1/2 on Thursday.

 

Participants were reluctant to push prices down too hard ahead of the weekend and before the U.S. Department of Agriculture issues important crop data next week, a broker said. The government Wednesday is due to release estimates on U.S. prospective plantings and quarterly grain stocks.

 

The markets were "due for a little bit of consolidation," said Dave Marshall, an independent commodity broker and marketing adviser. "With Wednesday's reports upcoming, it's good reason to kind of stabilize."

 

Commodity funds sold an estimated 1,000 contracts at CBOT.

 

 

Kansas City Board of Trade

 

KCBT May wheat touched a fresh contract low of US$4.75, below Thursday's contract low of US$4.75 1/2. The contract closed down 16 1/2 cents on the week.

 

Wheat's fundamental storyline remains weak. World supplies are large, and there's stiff competition for export business.

 

 

Minneapolis Grain Exchange

 

MGE May wheat hit a fresh contract low of US$4.96, below the previous low of US$4.97 1/2, set Thursday. The contract ended down 12 1/4 cents on the week.

 

The most important feature in next week's USDA plantings report will be acres of hard red spring wheat, traded at the MGE. There is uncertainty about how much will be planted because farmers in the northern Plains are unhappy with low cash prices and are able to plant other crops like corn and soy. Winter wheat, traded at the CBOT and KCBT, was planted last autumn, and traders already have an idea of how much was seeded.