Wheat futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were mixed at midsession on Wednesday in light, choppy trade as firms positioned ahead of government crop reports on Friday, traders said. The wheat market opened higher but turned mixed in sympathy with a breakdown in corn.
CBOT wheat drew some underpinning from inter-market wheat spreads, with traders unwinding long Kansas City/short Chicago positions. As of 11:10 am CDT (1610 GMT), CBOT May wheat was unchanged at $4.54 per bushel, with July down 1 cent at $4.67 and December flat at $4.91-3/4.
R.J. O'Brien was an early buyer of 300 May contracts, traders said. Strength in the crude oil market was supportive for the commodities sector. US crude prices were up more than 2.5 percent, above $64 a barrel, amid increased tensions between Iran and the West.
But favourable crop prospects amid ideal conditions in the US Plains hard red winter wheat belt weighed on wheat futures. For March 1 US wheat stocks, the average analyst estimate was for 881 million bushels, compared with 1.315 billion on December 1 and 972 million a year ago.