US Wheat Review on Monday: Sets contract lows on spillover pressure

 

 

U.S. wheat futures ended in negative territory Monday on pressure from other markets after touching fresh contract lows.

 

Chicago Board of Trade September wheat closed down 10 cents at US$4.71 3/4 a bushel. Kansas City Board of Trade September wheat dropped 8 1/4 cents to US$5.00 1/4, and Minneapolis Grain Exchange September wheat lost 8 1/2 cents to US$5.40 3/4.

 

Losses in CBOT corn and soys and weakness in crude oil and equities weighed on wheat, traders said. A firm U.S. dollar added to the bearish tonnee, as it makes U.S. wheat less attractive to foreign buyers, they said.

 

Before trimming losses, nearby CBOT September wheat in open outcry trading hit a new contract low of US$4.67 1/2, below its previous low of US$4.76, set Friday. Commodity funds sold an estimated 3,000 wheat contracts at the CBOT.

 

Wheat continues to struggle with weak fundamentals, as global supplies are considered large and the U.S. has missed out on big export sales to major buyers like Egypt, an analyst said. The market looks technically oversold and could see a pop from short covering, he said.

 

Non-commercial speculative funds were net short 54,196 contracts in CBOT wheat futures and options as of Aug. 11, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said in a supplemental Commitments of Traders report. That was up from 50,378 contracts as of Aug. 4.

 

 

Kansas City Board of Trade

 

The strong dollar and falling crude oil and equities pressured KCBT wheat, a trader said. September wheat in open outcry trading hit a fresh contract low of US$4.96, below its previous low of US$5.01 1/2, set Friday.

 

The Plains are "getting good moisture to plant wheat" this autumn, an analyst said. More precipitation is expected in Kansas on Tuesday and Wednesday after "heavy rain" fell Monday, according to private weather firm T-Storm Weather.

 

 

Minneapolis Grain Exchange

 

MGE wheat finished lower with the other markets. It seemed as though there was a general sell-off of commodities, an analyst said.

 

There was "nothing really all that exciting on the export front" for wheat, an analyst said. Weekly U.S. wheat export inspections of 13.915 million bushels were toward the low end of trade estimates, which ranged from 12 million to 19 million bushels.