US wheat futures were mixed on Wednesday in choppy early dealings while prospects for USDA early on Friday to trim its outlook for old-crop US wheat ending stocks gave the market some underlying support, traders said. Commodities are increasingly seen as a safe haven for investment money as a hedge against inflation.
At 10:05 am CST (1605 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade wheat was down 5-1/2 cents to up 1-1/2, with March unchanged at $9.07-1/2 per bushel. Gains in gold and crude oil as the dollar remains weak were also lending support in addition to an analyst average that showed old-crop US wheat ending stocks declining from a previous estimate.
Export activity on Wednesday was fairly routine with South Korea buying 21,300 tonnes of US wheat for April shipment. The nine-day relative strength index was at 46. Traders view an RSI of 70 or more as one indication of an overbought market and 30 or less as an indication of an overbought market.