US wheat futures closed higher on Friday in a technical bounce after values at all three US exchanges set fresh contract lows amid a global supply glut, traders said. Chicago Board of Trade September soft red winter wheat settled up 9 cents at $4.41-3/4 per bushel, with most-active December up 8-1/2 at $4.67-1/4.
CBOT September rallied after falling to $4.25-1/4, the lowest spot CBOT wheat price since April 2007. Funds bought 2,000-3,000 CBOT wheat contracts. Kansas City Board of Trade September hard red winter wheat settled up 4-1/4 cents at $4.66-3/4, with December up 4-1/4 at $4.77-3/4. Minneapolis Grain Exchange December spring wheat futures closed up 9-1/2 cents at $4.94, ending a streak of 10 consecutive lower closes; September spring wheat up 4-1/4 cents at $4.75-1/2.
In the latest indication of expanding global wheat stockpiles, USDA raised its forecast of 2009/10 world wheat ending stocks to 186.61 million tonnes, from 183.56 million in August. USDA left its estimate of US wheat ending stocks for 2009/10 unchanged at 743 million bushels. Traders were pricing in bigger US stocks as they await USDA's quarterly grain stocks report on September 30.