December 21, 2005

 

US Wheat Outlook Wednesday: Down 1-3 cents on setback from recent rally

  

 

U.S. wheat futures were called to open down 1 cent to 3 cents Wednesday following the overnight E-CBOT setback from the recent rally to one-month highs, brokers said.

 

Trade on Wednesday was expected to moderate ahead of the holidays. U.S. futures markets close Friday at 12 noon CST ahead of Sunday's Christmas Day. The U.S. wheat futures markets are closed Monday.

 

In the overnight e-CBOT session, most-active March wheat at the Chicago Board of Trade closed down 2 3/4 cents at US$3.25 1/4 per bushel.

 

First resistance for CBOT March wheat futures was seen at US$3.29--Tuesday's high--and then at US$3.33. First support lies at US$3.24--Tuesday's low--and then at US$3.19--this week's low.

 

Cash U.S. hard red winter wheat basis bids were mostly steady Wednesday; soft red winter wheat basis bids were steady to mixed, with a 2-cent loss in St. Louis, Missouri; and spring wheat basis bids were steady to mixed, with an 8-cent gain in Minot, North Dakota and a 2-cent loss in Grand Forks, North Dakota, grain merchandisers said.

 

Warmer temperatures across the southern U.S. hard red winter wheat belt this week accompanied forecasts for dry conditions through the next 10 days, meteorologists said.

 

Overnight U.S. wheat export news was quiet.

 

Japan sought 45,000 tonnes of U.S. wheat in an overall tender for 85,000 tonnes of wheat that will conclude Thursday.

 

In global wheat news, Ukraine's agriculture ministry said the country's grain stocks would be sufficient to last until the beginning of the next marketing year, July 1.

 

The ministry forecast that 8.9 million metric tonnes of grain harvested in 2005 will be left over when the 2006-2007 marketing year begins.

 

Russia's 2005 grain harvest in 2005 was 78.1 million metric tonnes in clean weight, about the same amount as in 2004, final figures released by the federal statistics service Wednesday showed.

 

Finally, U.S. wheat traders also continued to follow China wheat weather news and harvest reports from Australia and Argentina.