Soft red winter (SRW) wheat futures at the Chicago Board of Trade closed lower on Tuesday, with nearby September falling to a new contract low and fresh one-year low, traders said. Pressure came from quiet exports and seasonal harvest hedge pressure, they said. Persistent weight on corn and soya amid nearly ideal crop weather in the Midwest also caused slipover selling in the wheat pit.
CBOT wheat closed 1 to 2-3/4 cents per bushel lower, with September down 2-1/2 at $3.21-1/4. September fell to a new contract low of $3.19-1/2, below the previous low of $3.20-3/4 set on Monday.
Volume was light estimated at 15,644 futures and 2,825 options. On Monday, 21,787 futures traded. USDA late on Monday said 83 percent of the US winter wheat crop had been harvested, up from 76 percent a week ago.
USDA also showed an improvement in the condition rating for the US spring wheat crop. Seventy percent of the spring crop was in good to excellent shape, up from 68 percent a week ago.
Crop scouts are touring the US spring wheat belt this week and tour sources on Tuesday said projected yields for spring wheat fields in south-east North Dakota should be above average this season, but not as high as last year's bumper yields.
Cash basis values in the Midwest for SRW were steady to weak amid steady movement, dealers said. Cash merchandisers said they remained concerned about quality problems, with reports of increased levels of vomitoxin in SRW and sprout damage in HRW wheat.
The slide in wheat futures was slowed because the market has fallen near oversold technical levels.
Wheat set new contract lows on Monday with September at a 12-month low. The decline drove the nine-day relative strength index for September to 33 by the close. Chartists view an RSI of 30 or less as an oversold market.