US grain futures fell more than 1 percent on Friday as fresh doubts emerged over Europe's bailout package and traders evened positions ahead of a monthly US government crop supply-demand report next week. Jitters before a key vote in Greece over the fate of the country's prime minister also weighed on other commodities markets, with oil and gold heading lower.
Grains were also pressured by a firm dollar, which climbed after government data showed US unemployment at its lowest level in six months. Corn and wheat futures were on track for their first weekly decline in a month while soybean futures were headed for their first weekly loss in two weeks.
Futures for each contract have traded in a narrow range for the past several weeks and some investors are reluctant to take new positions until the US Agriculture Department updates its supply and demand forecast in a monthly report due Wednesday. "We are close to the weekend and there is so much uncertainty in the outside markets that traders are going to be cautious," said Jefferies Bache analyst Shawn McCambridge.
"We are hoping for a little more clarity next week (in the crop report) and we are close enough that no one is going to change positions," McCambridge said. Wheat futures led the way down at the Chicago Board of Trade, with benchmark December wheat declining 1.1 percent, or 7-1/2 cents, to $6.28-1/2 per bushel. CBOT December corn fell 4-1/2 cents to $6.49.
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