PARIS: European new crop wheat prices pared most of their gains on Thursday, having earlier been supported by technical adjustments before the expiry of the front month contract, the last of the old crop.
September milling wheat, the most actively traded contract, on Paris-based Euronext, unofficially closed 0.50 euros or 0.3 percent higher at 171.50 euros a tonne, not far from its contract low of 170.75 euros touched on Tuesday. It had risen as high as 173.00 euros in intraday trade.
Front-month May, which expires on May 10, was up 1.8 percent at 186.50 euros a tonne after touching 187.25 euros earlier.
Some market participants bought back short positions in the front month ahead of a deadline to submit delivery certificates on Friday.
"Today was a technical day.
We will need to wait for the end of the old crop to have a better picture of a trend for the new one. After the recent fall and as weather remains broadly dry in France, there is room for a rebound," a Euronext trader said.
The milling wheat complex had been in positive territory most of the day, also supported by strong US markets and a weak euro versus the dollar.
Sellers on the French cash market were cautious ahead of a cold snap expected at the end of the week in parts of France and Germany although it was still unclear whether it could cause any damage to crops.
"This cold snap could add an additional stress to crops, already weakened by a lack of rain," a broker said.
Separately, traders were expecting West European origins - mainly German - and the Black Sea to supply most of a tender by Saudi Arabia's state grain buyer SAGO to purchase 840,000 tonnes of feed barley.
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