Chicago | Reuters—Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures extended gains on Thursday after reaching a 10-month peak a day earlier, as lingering dryness and worries over the Black Sea crop continued to underpin the market.
However, some traders said it looks like the market is losing momentum.
Reduced forecasts for Russia’s wheat production fueled a steep rally this month, while also drawing attention to adverse weather in other major producers like Ukraine, Australia and France.
“The rally is running out on wheat. We’ve got the Russian weather fully priced in now,” said Joe Davis, trader at Futures International.
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The most-active CBOT wheat contract Wv1 gained 5 cents to settle at $6.98 per bushel after climbing to its highest point since July during the previous session.
CBOT corn Cv1 rose 2-3/4 cents to end at $4.64 per bushel, while soybeans Sv1 closed 7 cents lower at $12.39-1/4 per bushel.
Soy slipped on technical trading, while corn gained support from expectations for an uptick in demand, traders said.
The recent surge in wheat prices increased its premium over corn, encouraging some profit-taking in wheat since Wednesday as traders anticipated some livestock feed demand shifting to corn.
“It’s technical trading on corn and beans, and corn is holding a bullish pattern,” Davis said.
Corn futures were supported by doubts over South American production. The soybean harvest in Brazil may also be curbed by flooding in the far south, though national production is set to remain high.
Faster-than-expected planting progress in the United States is keeping a lid on corn and soybean prices, supporting expectations of ample global supply for both crops, traders said.
Export sales of old-crop U.S. corn for the week ending May 16 were in line with analyst estimates, while new-crop U.S. wheat and old-crop U.S. soy export sales fell on the low end of analyst estimates.
—Additional reporting for Reuters by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore
