US wheat futures fell on Thursday, retreating from a two-month high set the previous session, as traders booked profits and awaited developments in the coronavirus crisis that had sparked the recent run-up in wheat markets.
Corn and soyabean futures also declined, shrugging off support from larger-than-expected weekly export sales and a rally in Wall Street equity markets.
As of 12:38 p.m. CDT (1738 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade May wheat futures were down 13-1/2 cents at $5.66-1/2 per bushel. CBOT May corn was down 2-1/4 cents at $3.46-1/4 a bushel and May soyabeans were down 6 cents at $8.75-1/2 a bushel.
Wheat posted the biggest declines, a day after the May contract jumped 3% as panic buying of food staples by consumers spurred flour demand as well as speculative buying on futures markets.
"It's been a pretty good rally in a short period of time for both wheat and soyabeans, and you're just going to run out of people willing to buy it at these levels," said Mark Schultz, analyst with Northstar Commodity.
Uncertainty fanned by reports of export restrictions, notably in top global supplier Russia, had also supported prices.
However, Russia's agriculture ministry said on Thursday it expected domestic grain prices to stabilise in the near future and did not foresee any drop in the country's supply of flour.
CBOT corn faced continued pressure from the ethanol sector. US ethanol plants are slowing production as falling energy prices have depressed profit margins, slashing demand for corn, the primary feedstock for the biofuel.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported export sales of US old-crop corn in the week to March 19 at 1.8 million tonnes, a marketing year high. But traders said the tally, which included a big sale to China, was largely factored into the market.