Wheat futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were down sharply at midday on Friday as improving harvest weather in the US Plains prompted selling after last week's run-up to 11-year highs, traders said.
Spillover weakness from corn and soybeans added pressure to a wheat market that was seen as technically overbought. The nine-day relative strength index for CBOT July wheat stood at 73 ahead of the open, in overbought technical territory.
As of 12:01 pm CDT (1701 GMT), CBOT July wheat was down 15-1/4 cents, or 2.5 percent, at $5.90-3/4 per bushel. September was down 15 at $6.07 and December was down 14 at $6.14. Funds sold 4,000 wheat contracts by midday, along with 9,000 in soybeans and 10,000 in corn, traders said.