Wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade settled higher on Friday, rallying from early declines on short-covering ahead of the weekend. But most-active CBOT May wheat still posted a weekly decline of 2.7 percent, reflecting an improving weather outlook for the US Plains and profit-taking after Monday's one-month high.
CBOT May wheat settled up 1/2 cent at $4.63 per bushel while K.C. hard red winter wheat and MGEX spring wheat futures closed lower. The US Climate Prediction Center this week forecast above-average precipitation in the southern Plains wheat belt for April through June. Dryness has been building in the region in recent weeks.
The market was underpinned this week by fund short-covering. Funds held a massive net short position in CBOT and K.C. wheat as of March 8, and traders awaited updated weekly data due later on Friday from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Persistent rain and hail storms could cut India's wheat crop by at least 14 percent this year, potentially forcing the world's second-biggest producer to import the grain for the first time in a decade, an industry body said. Farm office FranceAgriMer said 92 percent of French soft wheat crops were in good or excellent condition as of March 14, down slightly from 93 percent a week earlier.
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