Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures closed sharply lower Wednesday in a fund-led sell-off ignited by forecasts for good rains in the Plains and weakness in all US commodity markets, traders said.
Soft red winter wheat futures through May 2005 ended 9 cents to 12-3/4 cents lower, with May down 12 at $3.85. New-crop July fell 12-3/4 to $3.93-1/4 - sliding through its 50-day moving average of $3.95-1/2. Trade was active, estimated at 30,839 futures and 5,921 options.
Commodity funds sold 3,000 to 4,000 futures, traders said. Commercials were on both sides of the market.
"Beneficial rains moved in through the Plains and Midwest, so it eased some of the production concerns," said Shawn McCambridge, a grain analyst with Prudential Securities.
"If we're not going to be taking any additional production losses, than we have to sell in the export market that's been extremely quiet," he added.
Showers of up to a quarter inch fell across the Plains wheat belt overnight, with rains favouring the eastern portion, and more was expected on Thursday and Friday.
The crop was in need of moisture, especially in north-east Colorado, Nebraska and north-west Kansas. Those areas were expected to get some of the rain, a private forecaster said.
Then, there was no confirmation of any fresh Chinese business after rumours this week that China may have bought US wheat recently. And French wheat growers said on Wednesday they hoped to sell 2.5 million tonnes of wheat to Egypt and China in the coming months.
Adding fuel to the sell-off was the weakness across all US commodity markets, with the Reuters/CRB Index of 17 commodity futures falling 2.2 percent.
Commodities were pressured by a surge in the dollar this week to a five-month high against the euro after Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's testimony to Congress sparked expectations for higher interest rates.
Higher rates raise grain storage costs and weigh on US grain exports.
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