Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures closed lower on Tuesday on technical selling and profit-taking a day after the benchmark March contract set one month high, traders said. CBOT December soft red winter wheat settled down 3/4 cent at $5.30-1/4 per bushel and most-active March ended down 2 cents at $5.31.

K.C. December hard red winter wheat finished down 3 cents at $4.32-1/2 a bushel and March settled down 3-3/4 cents at $4.41-1/2. MGEX December spring wheat closed down 4-1/4 cents at $4.94 and March ended down 1 cent at $5.12. Firm domestic cash values continue to underpin nearby CBOT wheat futures, with traders expecting minimal deliveries against December futures on Friday's first notice day.

Wheat futures at all three markets were underpinned by forecasts for a winter storm to bring snow and strong winds to the Plains hard red winter wheat belt, and rains to soft red winter wheat areas of the Delta. The US Department of Agriculture late Monday rated 52% of the US winter wheat crop in good to excellent condition, unchanged from the previous week. Analysts on average had expected a decline of one percentage point.