Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) wheat futures retreated on Thursday as traders banked profits from the market's recent advance ahead of a government crop report scheduled for release on Friday. CBOT September soft red winter wheat settled 5-1/2 cents lower at $5.64-1/2 per bushel.`
K.C. September hard red winter wheat futures ended down 5-3/4 cents at $5.78-1/2 a bushel while MGEX September spring wheat fell 3 cents to end at $6.29-3/4. Wheat futures climbed to three-year highs early this week on concerns about crop production in Europe, the Black Sea region, Canada and Australia.
Analysts on average expect the US Department of Agriculture on Friday to lower its forecasts of US and global end-of-season stocks in its monthly supply/demand report. The USDA on Thursday morning said weekly export sales of wheat totaled 317,000 tonnes, in line with forecasts that ranged from 200,000 tonnes to 500,000 tonnes.