Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures higher early on Friday in lacklustre consolidation action after a volatile week of rallying prices, traders said. The spot September contract ended up 3-1/4 cents at $7.25-3/4, ranging on the day from $7.20 to $7.27. September set a new 11-year high at $7.41 a bushel on Thursday.
Most-active December ended up 3 cents at $7.42 after ranging from $7.34 to $7.43. December set a new high Thursday at $7.54, marking a key move through resistance seen at $7.50.
"We've had a lot of volatility this week," said Prudential analyst Shawn McCambridge. "Today was just kind of choppy positioning... with a lot of people willing to wait until after the weekend. The whole market is focused on what is going to happen with demand and what is the sufficient price level to ration demand."
Traders said big speculators were skittish about technically over-bought market conditions. But the need for bread-making wheat continues to over-ride most other considerations. Iran has been a buyer of US wheat in recent weeks, and the USDA on Friday confirmed a sale of 100,000 tonnes of US hard red winter wheat to Cuba.