CBOT wheat futures down

Wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade closed lower on Tuesday in a late technical retreat from contract highs after fund buying was exhausted, traders said.
"After we had an early round of fund buying, I think the bids backed away on the close and it allowed the market to fall," a cash-connected trader said.
Most months set new highs earlier in the day on concerns about dry weather in the US Plains.
CBOT March wheat settled down 3 cents at $3.70-1/4 per bushel after reaching $3.78, the highest spot-month wheat price since June 2004. Most-active May closed down 4-3/4 at $3.81 after rising to $3.90-1/2, above its previous contract high of $3.88.
Funds net bought 2,000 contracts on the day, but local traders and ABN Amro were noted sellers, traders said.
Volume was estimated by the exchange at 46,869 futures and 12,148 options.
Warm, dry weather in the Plains winter wheat belt was the market's focus early in the session. In Kansas City, May wheat closed down 1 cent at $4.45-1/2 after reaching a contract high at $4.53-1/2.
Temperatures were forecast to reach the 70s and low 80s (Fahrenheit) on Tuesday, potentially adding to crop stress, Meteorlogix weather service said. Also, forecasts indicated that rains expected on Friday and Saturday would total 0.1 inch or less.
In Texas, 89 percent of the winter wheat was rated in poor to very poor condition, the US Agriculture Department said in a weekly state crop report issued late Monday.
"We had a reminder of the problems with the weekly crop condition ratings in Texas, and there still is not much moisture in the forecast," Citigroup analyst Dale Gustafson said.
Deliveries on the CBOT March wheat contract totalled 999 lots, below estimates for 3,500 to 4,000 lots. The ABN Amro house account issued 884 lots and the key stopper was a Deutsche Bank customer taking 462 lots.
Registrations with the CBOT late on Monday totalled 1,245 lots, unchanged from late Friday. Traders said there was talk of wheat export business with Iraq and Iran, but nothing confirmed. Japan offered to buy 167,000 tonnes of US, Canadian and Australian wheat at its weekly tender.
Overbought technical signals were bearish. The nine-day relative strength index for CBOT May wheat closed on Monday at 70. Chartists see an RSI of 70 or higher as one sign of an overbought market.
The RSI retreated to close at 61.