Friday, 20 March 2015 01:41
CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade futures closed mixed on Thursday as fund short-covering offset pressure from a rebound in the dollar and beneficial showers in the southern US Plains, traders said.
CBOT May wheat hit a one-month high at $ 5.20, near its 50-day moving average, early in the session. Commodity funds hold a net short position in CBOT wheat, leaving the market open to short-covering.
K.C. hard red winter and MGEX spring wheat closed lower, dragged down by the rains in the Plains and updated forecasts that added moisture.
The dollar rallied from its biggest one-day fall against the euro and sterling in six years. A firmer dollar makes US grains less attractive on the world market.
USDA reported export sales of US wheat in the latest week at 391,900 tonnes for 2014/15 and 142,900 for 2015/16, roughly in line with trade expectations.
Evidence of freeze injury in winter wheat from a cold spell last autumn is starting to show up in parts of northwest Kansas as the crop comes out of dormancy, an agronomist said.
Copyright Reuters, 2015
