CHICAGO: Wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade crept higher for a fourth straight session on Friday, supported by a weaker US dollar and higher-than-expected weekly US wheat export sales, traders said.
* CBOT grain trade closed two hours early because of the US Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
* CBOT December options expired at the close, with moderate open interest at the $8.50 strike helping to keep front-month wheat futures from falling very far below that level.
* For the week, CBOT wheat ended up 1.1 percent, rebounding from a 5.5 percent loss the previous week.
* USDA reported export sales of US wheat in the latest week at 657,500 tonnes (635,500 for 2012/13), above a range of trade estimates for 200,000 to 400,000 tonnes.
* Weak dollar lends support. Optimism about a deal to help Greece, hopes that US lawmakers can agree on a solution to avoid a fiscal crisis, and data showing an improving global economic outlook have pressured the dollar and driven a rally in riskier asset markets, including commodities, this week.
* Argentina's government on Thursday cut its 2012/13 wheat output forecast to 11.1 million tonnes, from 11.5 million previously, citing months of heavy rains and flooding.
* Ukraine's grain traders are ready to halt milling wheat exports on an informal basis as they approach a critical limit, in order to protect the domestic market after a poor harvest, the agriculture ministry said on Friday.
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