Friday, 27 March 2015 02:15
CHICAGO: Front-month wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade fell 3.8 percent on Thursday, the most since July, and closed below $ 5 a bushel on disappointing weekly US export data and an upturn in the US dollar, traders said.
Technical selling accelerated as CBOT March wheat fell through support at its 50-day moving average near $ 5.15.
K.C. hard red winter and MGEX spring wheat futures also ended lower. All three markets sank to session lows in the closing moments of trade.
USDA reported export sales of old-crop US wheat for the week ended March 19 at 102,341 tonnes, a marketing year low, and new-crop sales at 79,350 tonnes.
The dollar rallied against a basket of currencies, making US wheat even less attractive on the world market, especially amid plentiful global supplies.
Trade expects USDA next week to report US March 1 wheat stocks up nearly 8 percent from a year ago.
Light rain fell in the last day in eastern Oklahoma and the southern Midwest, but there was little relief for the driest areas of Kansas and Nebraska.
Copyright Reuters, 2015
