US Wheat Review on Friday: Slides on weak CBOT corn, sluggish demand

 

 

Spillover pressure from falling Chicago Board of Trade corn futures and weak export demand dragged U.S. wheat futures lower Friday.

 

CBOT September wheat fell 15 1/2 cents to close at US$5.16 1/4 a bushel, down 25 1/2 cents on the week. Kansas City Board of Trade September wheat slid 12 1/2 cents at US$5.49, and Minneapolis Grain Exchange September wheat lost 8 1/2 cents at US$5.91 1/2.

 

Wheat gave back all its gains from Thursday and more as the fundamental outlook remains weak, traders said. Wheat on Thursday rallied with corn but closed below session highs.

 

"When you took the main supportive factor, which yesterday was corn, out of the equation, it was hard for wheat to sustain those gains," said Dave Marshall, an independent marketing advisor and commodity broker.

 

World supplies are considered ample, and there continues to be disappointment about sluggish export sales, traders said. The markets are trying to find a price level to attract demand, Marshall said.

 

Traders will likely continue to sell rallies until the markets uncover more demand, an analyst said. The technical trend is lower, and there was no follow-through momentum after Thursday's gains, he said.

 

Commodity funds sold an estimated 2,000 wheat contracts at the CBOT.

Kansas City Board of Trade

 

KCBT pulled back from Thursday's gains amid the setback in CBOT corn, a trader said. Rallies, or "one-day wonders," tend "to be pretty heavily sold," a broker said.

 

The lack of strong export demand loomed above the markets, which are "clearly in a demand phase right now," an analyst said. "Demand isn't there."

 

KCBT September wheat closed down 17 1/2 cents on the week.

 

 

Minneapolis Grain Exchange

 

MGE September wheat closed down 24 3/4 cents on the week.

 

The market is looking ahead to the Wheat Quality Council's annual hard red spring wheat tour, which kicks off Tuesday in Fargo, N.D. The tour is expected to uncover a generally good looking crop that has benefited from cool weather after planting delays in the spring, industry members said.

 

The tour surveys HRS wheat and durum fields across North Dakota and wraps up Thursday in Fargo with the release of final yield estimates around 3:45 p.m. EDT. A production estimate will not be issued.