US wheat futures firm

US wheat futures firmed on Thursday, led by a 1.8 percent gain in the most active K.C. hard red winter wheat contract, traders said. Dry conditions in the US Plains that threatened the health of the crop there supported the gains in K.C. wheat.
The benchmark Chicago Board of Trade soft red winter wheat contracts followed K.C. wheat higher after a sluggish start to the trading day. The US Agriculture Department reported that weekly export sales of wheat totalled 421,900 tonnes, near the high end of market forecasts that ranged from 200,000 to 450,000 tonnes. Wheat futures remained below highs hit earlier this month.