US MIDDAY: wheat down on fund selling

Wheat futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were lower at mid-morning on Thursday, influenced by a downturn in CBOT soybeans and satisfactory US crop weather, traders said. As of 11:25 am CDT (1625 GMT), CBOT May wheat was down 3-1/2 cents at $3.16 per bushel, with deferreds down 3-1/2 to up 1. FIMAT Futures, Man Financial and Goldenberg Hehmeyer each sold 200 July contracts, while Refco bought 200 July, traders said. Prudential bought 200 July and sold 400 July, they said.
Wheat traders were eyeing declines in the CBOT soy complex. Soybean futures turned lower on fund selling, retreating from early strength that stemmed from news that Asian soy rust was found in Georgia.
There was nothing in the export arena to drive wheat futures higher, traders said, and crop weather in the US wheat belt was satisfactory overall for wheat growth and development.