US wheat futures fell 1.7 percent on Friday and were on track for their biggest weekly loss since January on forecasts for some much needed rain in the US Plains, traders said. Corn and soyabean futures also fell, as funds exited some long positions and technical traders booked sales.
Forecasts called for slight rains during the weekend and a bigger system bringing much-needed moisture at the end of next week, said Don Keeney, meteorologist with MDA Weather Services. The region's wheat crop is emerging from dormancy and will need increasing amounts of moisture as it develops over the next few months.
At 11:47 am CDT (1647 GMT), the benchmark Chicago Board of Trade May soft red winter wheat contract was down 11-1/2 cents at $6.64-1/2 a bushel. KC hard red winter wheat futures, which track the crop grown in the drought-stricken Plains, was off 13-1/2 cents at $7.30-1/2 a bushel.
CBOT wheat has shed 4.5 percent this week and was on track for its biggest weekly loss since the week ended January 10. The May contract slipped through its 30-day moving average for the first time since February 11 during Friday's session. CBOT May soyabeans were down 5 cents at $14.70-1/4 a bushel, with a wave of technical selling hitting the market after prices failed to break through the high end of its 20-day Bollinger range. New-crop contracts were close to unchanged as traders unwound bull spreads.
May soyabeans were up 2.3 percent this week, the third straight week of gains for the front-month contract. Front-month soyabeans have risen for eight out of the last nine weeks due to concerns about tight old-crop supplies in the United States. CBOT May corn was down 2-3/4 cents at $4.97-1/4 a bushel. The contract has risen 1.1 percent so far this week and also was on track for its third straight week of gains. Front-month corn has risen for 10 of the last 11 weeks on strong demand from the export and ethanol sector.
Comments
Comments are closed.