US wheat futures rallied on Friday, with the benchmark Chicago Board of Trade May soft red winter contract rising 7.8 percent, due to bullish supply and planting reports from the US Agriculture Department, traders said. The rally pushed CBOT May wheat through key technical resistance points and prices closed above the 50-day and 100-day moving averages.
But prices closed below the week high of $6.70-1/2 hit on Monday. The front-month CBOT wheat contract ended the quarter up 0.9 percent, its third straight quarterly gain. For the week, CBOT wheat was up 0.7 percent and it closed 0.8 percent lower for March.
Front-month CBOT wheat posted its biggest daily gain on Friday since October 11, 2011. MGEX spring wheat rose 5.7 percent on Friday while Kansas City Board of Trade hard red winter wheat futures gained 6.4 percent. US Agriculture Department said farmers planned to plant 11.976 million acres of spring wheat other than durum in its annual prospective plantings report.
Analysts had expected spring wheat acreage of 13.313 million. A year ago, farmers planted 12.394 million acres. The report pegged durum wheat acreage at 2.223 million, matching analysts' forecasts. Total wheat acreage was estimated at 55.908 million acres, below trade forecasts for 57.422 million.
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