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CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--U.S. wheat futures settled higher Wednesday, finishing
higher for the first time in four trading sessions. Futures rallied from modest
losses set earlier in the day as a recovery in soybean futures from double
digit declines provided support for wheat futures, sources said. Light
technical buying also added to the upside, sources added.
CBOT March wheat rose 4 3/4 cents to $3.52 per bushel. May wheat also gained
4 3/4 cents to $3.63 1/4. KCBT March settled 3 1/2 cents higher to $4.16 1/2,
with KCBT May 1 3/4 cents higher at $4.19 3/4. MGE March wheat rose 5 3/4 cents
to $4.01 1/4.
The rally in soybeans spilled overotniwheat futures, a floor trader said.
Futures were lower in choppy, two-sided trade on continued consolidation and
the lack of fresh inputs amid the lack of a feature, he added.
There was not much outright trading, but there was good volume in the
May-March spread as people rolled out of their March positions andotniMay
ahead of first notice day, a floor analyst said.
"The volume was all in the spreads today," he added.
News that Iraq had asked EU wheat traders for quotes regarding its recent
tender for optional-origin wheat had little market impact, with traders noting
reports that the EU would have a difficult time exporting enough hard red
wheat, the type Iraq usually purchases.
There was no word on when the results of the tender would be announced,
sources said.
Light precipitation is forecast over the next several days in the southern
central plains, with an intense cold front movingotnithe region bringing
temperatures as low as the single digits, DTN Meteorlogix weather said. The
cold weather will be relatively short-lived, Meteorlogix added.
In CBOT trades, JP Morgan bought 400 May and 300 December, Prudential
Financial bought 100 May, Rand Financial 200 March, and ABM Amro bought 200
May.
Cargill sold 100 May, Man Financial sold 200 May and Rand Financial sold 200
July.
In midday KCBT trades, ADM bought 900 March and 200 July, while selling 300
May. Man Financial sold 1,000 March, and FC Stone bought 100 December.
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is scheduled to release the
weekly export sales for the week ended Feb. 9. Analysts expect wheat sales
between 300,000-500,000 metric tons. Last week, sales were 354,700 tons.
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