KCBT wheat more than five percent lower

Kansas City Board of Trade hard red winter wheat futures ended more than 5 percent lower on Friday, caught in the downdraft of global financial woes and pressured by bearish stocks data from the USDA. The KCBT December wheat ended down 33 cents, or 5.2 percent, at $6.05, and March ended down 33-3/4 cents at $6.23-1/2.
Soyabean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade led grain losses, closing down the 70-cent limit as US crude oil futures fell to their lowest levels in more than a year. Volume was light, with traders keeping a close eye on financial markets amid persistent pressure from worries about the economy in the United States and abroad.
Pressure was tied in part to USDA's October crop production and supply/demand reports. USDA pegged 2008/09 US wheat ending stocks at 601 million bushels, above average of analysts' estimates of 558 million bushels and above USDA's September forecast of 574 million.