US wheat futures fell 2.2 percent on Friday as investors awaited key US planting and stocks data but stayed on course for a small weekly rise as the market worried about dry weather in the US Plains. Corn and soyabeans inched higher in subdued trading in the run-up to Monday's spring planting and quarterly stocks estimates from the US Department of Agriculture, a data release that often generates sharp price movements.
But forecasts for some rain in parts of the US grain belt and the prospect of large global harvests in 2014 have acted as a brake on wheat prices ahead of Monday's USDA numbers. Wheat for delivery in May on the Chicago Board of Trade was down 16-1/2 cents at $6.94 a bushel at 11:20 am CDT (1620 GMT).
Traders were also unwinding wheat and corn spreads, said analyst Terry Linn of the Linn Group brokerage in Chicago. CBOT May corn was up 1 cent at $4.93 a bushel after hitting a nearly three-week high of $4.96-1/4 on strong US exports. Corn is up 3 percent this week, its ninth increase in 10 weeks. US corn sales last week stood at 1.4 million tonnes, well above analysts' expectations that ranged from 525,000 to 725,000 tonnes, a USDA report showed. Soyabeans were up 3 cents at $14.39-1/2 per bushel and on track for a weekly gain of 2 percent.