CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures closed lower on Friday as a new variant of the coronavirus spooked commodities markets, traders said.

Losses pulled CBOT wheat down from a nine-year high reached on Wednesday in the most-active contract

CBOT March soft red winter wheat settled down 10 cents at $8.57-1/2. The contract hit its lowest price since Nov. 17. Most actively traded KC March hard red winter wheat closed down 8 cents at $8.69 a bushel. MGEX March spring wheat ended up 3-1/2 cents at $10.48-1/2 a bushel.

MGEX wheat rose and CBOT wheat trimmed losses amid ongoing concerns about tight global supplies of high-quality wheat, analysts said. Weekly US wheat export sales of 567,500 tonnes topped analysts’ expectations for the 2021-22 marketing year.