Euronext wheat touched one week low on Wednesday as widespread rain expected in Black Sea exporting countries Russia and Ukraine eased concerns about dry weather damage to wheat crops.
However, dry, hot weather in France this week kept some attention on drought risks after recent downward revisions to production forecasts for Russia and Ukraine.
September milling wheat on Paris-based Euronext settled down 1.25 euros, or 0.7%, at 186.50 euros ($204.78) a tonne, after touching a one-week low of 186.00 euros in late trading.
The price trend remained hesitant, with Euronext edging higher earlier in the day, as traders assessed the impact of rainfall in parts of Europe against persisting dryness elsewhere.
"The rain in the Black Sea region is calming the market down a bit," a futures dealer said.
"I'm a bit surprised though at the limited reaction to the reduced Russian harvest forecasts."
Relatively small sales of French wheat for the 2020/21 season starting in July was also capping prices, although traders said there were signs of demand picking up.
Chicago wheat edged lower, with an improved weekly rating for US winter wheat crops also curbing prices.
In Germany, standard bread wheat with 12% protein for September delivery in Hamburg was offered for sale little changed at around 1 euro under the Paris December contract.
Traders were also weighing moisture levels in dry northern and eastern zones.
"We still need more rain although there is considerable relief at the volumes which fell in past days," one German trader said.
German wheat export sales were also slackening after a surge in recent months.
"New-crop Baltic States wheat is looking considerably cheaper than German, so new sales are slow," the trader added.
Financial investors trimmed their net long position in Euronext's wheat futures and options last week, data published by Euronext showed.
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