Wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade fell on Thursday, led by a 2.7 percent decline in K.C. hard red winter wheat futures as updated long-term forecasts eased worries about dryness in the southern US Plains, traders said. Updated one- and three-month forecasts from the US Climate Prediction Center showed above-normal precipitation for the southern Plains hard red wheat belt, where dry conditions have been building.
A drop in European wheat futures tied to strength in the euro added pressure. US wheat futures turned down after drawing early support from a drop in the dollar, which sank against other major currencies after a Federal Reserve meeting left markets convinced that US interest rates would not rise anytime soon. Technical selling was a factor, with CBOT wheat unable to keep pace with multiweek highs in corn futures and multi-month highs in soybeans. CBOT May wheat fell below its 50-, 30- and 20-day moving averages, settling down 8-1/4 cents at $4.62-1/2 a bushel.
USDA reported export sales of US wheat in the week to March 10 at 213,000 tonnes for 2015-16, below trade expectations, and 159,400 tonnes for 2016-17, above expectations. Strategie Grains raised its forecast of the 2016 soft wheat crop in the EU to 143.6 million tonnes, from 142.6 million in February. Egypt has enough strategic wheat reserves to last until early July, Supply Minister Khaled Hanafi said.