CBOT wheat futures higher in largely technical trade

Wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade closed higher on Tuesday in largely technical trade, rallying on ideas that a sell-off of nearly 3 percent one day earlier was overdone, traders said. CBOT December traded between support at its 20-day moving average near $5.05 and resistance at its 100-day moving average near $5.17, settling at $5.16-1/2, up 8-1/2 cents on the day.
Bull-spreading noted, with front CBOT contracts gaining against back months, reflecting tight supplies of deliverable-grade US soft red wheat. K.C. hard red winter and MGEX spring wheat futures also closed higher. The Ethiopian government bought about 800,000 tonnes of milling wheat in a giant international tender for up to 1 million tonnes, European traders said. Origin of the grain was optional but could include wheat from the Black Sea and Baltic Sea regions, the traders said. The USDA late Monday rated 49 percent of the US winter wheat crop as good to excellent, up from 47 percent a week earlier.