European wheat futures held close to a 4-1/2 month high on Friday, supported by firm US prices and bullish export sentiment. But the market lacked fresh impetus to test highs after rallying this week on crop concerns in the southern hemisphere. January milling wheat, now the benchmark for Paris-based Euronext wheat, was up 0.25 euro or 0.1 percent at 204.00 euros a tonne at 1506 GMT.
It had touched a 4-1/2 month high of 206.50 euros in each of the previous two sessions. Front-month November was up 1.25 euros or 0.6 percent at 206.00 euros. Spot wheat futures in Chicago were hovering around the $7 threshold, as they also traded within sight of a four-month low struck this week. "People are betting that we'll be able to export to Egypt and other markets in the second half of the season as Black Sea suppliers will be less active," one Euronext dealer said.
"We're trying to see if we can hold the strong upward curve we're on. But you feel that the market won't readily fall back below 200 euros." The European Union on Thursday reported weekly export licences for 384,000 tonnes of soft wheat, keeping the total so far in 2013/14 well above last season's pace. The euro, which hit a two-year high against the dollar above $1.38 on Friday, has acted as a curb on Paris prices, however, by making euro zone wheat more expensive for export. In France, wheat sowing continued to advance more swiftly than in last year, with 54 percent of the area sown by October 21 against 31 percent a year earlier, data from farm office FranceAgriMer showed on Friday.