December wheat was 4 1/4 cents higher overnight. The dollar posted a modest loss overnight. December wheat traded in a very narrow range overnight, holding inside yesterday’s trading range in the process. Yesterday’s action was also inside the previous day’s range. Traders indicate that the wheat market is looking to corn and other outside markets for direction and corn has also traded in a narrow range into the end of the week. Weather remains dry in most winter wheat areas of the US, particularly in the soft red winter wheat belt in the Midwest. No rain is forecast in the region into the start of next week or longer. The USDA will issue its latest Export Sales report this morning. Traders are looking for a total well in excess of the weekly average of 462,100 tonnes that is needed to reach the USDA’s export forecast. The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Management’s latest data show August wheat exports expanding to Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Middle East as Australia’s regional neighbors continue to scramble for wheat to replace lost Black Sea origin supplies. The EU cleared 253,000 tonnes of wheat for export this week. This is down from some recent weekly totals as buyers continue to shift to the US, Australia and Canadian sourcing. Argentina’s Buenos Aires Grains Exchange raised its estimate of this year’s wheat crop to 11.3 to 12.00 million tonnes from their previous estimate of 11.3 million tonnes. Last year’s production was the smallest in 30 years at 7.9 million tonnes. The USDA estimate is at 12 million tonnes.