US Wheat Review on Monday: Tumble on technical selling, outside pressure

 

 

Chicago Board of Trade December wheat fell 20 3/4 cents to US$5.27 a bushel. Kansas City Board of Trade December wheat lost 18 1/2 cents to US$5.31, and Minneapolis Grain Exchange December wheat sank 15 cents to US$5.45 3/4.

 

There was follow-through selling after wheat had a "bearish technical close," an analyst said. CBOT December wheat settled weaker Friday after hitting fresh highs for its recent upward move earlier in the session.

 

"We had that spike up really high and then we had that poor close," said Larry Glenn, a broker and analyst for Frontier Ag. "We're just seeing some more follow-through-type selling."

 

The market was due for a pullback after climbing since the beginning of the month, traders said. CBOT December wheat last week finished 49 cents higher on the week and was up 90 1/4 cents on the month as of Friday's close.

 

"You have a situation ripe for profit-taking," said Greg Wagner, a senior commodity analyst for AgResource Company.

 

Weakness in CBOT corn and soybeans added to the bearish tone. Commodity funds sold an estimated 6,000 wheat contracts at the CBOT.

 

 

Kansas City Board Of Trade 

 

Bearish signals from macro markets pressured the grains, including KCBT wheat, traders said. Strength in the U.S. dollar and losses in crude oil and equities weighed on prices, they said.

 

Traders are waiting to see an update on winter wheat seedings in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's weekly crop progress report, due out at 4 p.m. EDT. Plantings should be about 76% complete, up from 69% a week ago, according to an estimate from Citigroup.

 

Wet weather and a delayed U.S. soybean harvest have slowed plantings of soft red winter wheat, traded at the CBOT. Traders have fewer worries about plantings of hard red winter wheat, traded at the KCBT.

 

 

Minneapolis Grain Exchange 

 

MGE wheat finished lower along with the other markets amid broad weakness in commodities, a trader said. It was bearish that the dollar was stronger and that crude oil, corn, soybeans and precious metals were lower, he said.

 

Weekly U.S. wheat export inspections "stunk," an analyst said. Inspections totaled 14.336 million bushels, below expectations of 15 million to 20 million.