US wheat futures closed higher in Chicago and Kansas City on Friday on light short covering after a seesaw session, traders said. Wheat futures were seen as oversold and due for a bounce following a two-month slide, but the approaching harvest of a record large world wheat crop continued to hang over the market, pushing prices lower at times.
A weaker dollar, a rally in soyabean futures tied to the extension of an Argentine farmer strike, and strength in crude oil lent support. At the Chicago Board of Trade, July soft red winter wheat settled 4 cents higher at $7.75-1/2 per bushel, with back months up 2-1/2 to 4 cents.
Funds were net even in CBOT wheat for the day. At the Kansas City Board of Trade, July hard red winter wheat futures closed up 2-3/4 cents at $8.24-1/4 per bushel, with back months up 2 to 5 cents. At the Minneapolis Grain Exchange, July spring wheat fell 3 cents to close at $10.04 per bushel, with new-crop September down 8 cents at $8.64. MGE futures weighed by soft cash markets for spring wheat amid sluggish demand from flourmills. Pakistan issued two separate tenders to import a total of 250,000 tonnes of wheat to boost stocks.
Ukraine has offered the first parcels of milling and feed wheat of the 2008 harvest, a top analyst said. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko is ready to cancel grain and sunflower oil export restrictions, if the government fails to abolish them, a local newspaper said.