May wheat was 5 1/2 cents higher overnight. The dollar index was narrowly mixed.

The wheat market pushed into major new contract lows in May futures yesterday following a Planting Intentions report that was considered moderately negative. Wheat continued making new lows throughout the course of the session yesterday before closing near the lows. Traders said that some of the later selling came from spreaders who bought corn and sold wheat late in the session along with selling by funds and stop loss selling by traders who had bought earlier in the day. This was the 5th straight day that the May wheat contract made a new contract low.

The USDA pegged all-wheat stocks as of March 1st at 1.352 billion bushels on yesterday’s Grain Stocks report. This was about 15 million below trade expectations, but it is still up sharply from last year’s stocks of 1.040 billion bushels on March 1st, 2009. In addition, this includes the potential for record large ending stocks in soft red wheat. The USDA pegged all-wheat plantings at 53.8 million acres for 2009/10, which was about 500,000 acres above the average trade estimate. Last year’s planted area for all-wheat was 59.133 million acres. Spring wheat area was pegged at 13.9 million acres, about 500,000 above trade expectations. Winter wheat was also bumped to slightly above trade expectations at 37.7 million.

Weather forecasts call for light to moderate rains to move into the Plains tomorrow with heavier amounts hitting the extreme SE Plains and into the northern Delta. This should last into Saturday with the same system also bringing heavy rains through Missouri, the Upper Mississippi Valley and much of Illinois. Other adjacent areas will see moderate rains, and this is expected to be followed by another dry spell that precedes the arrival of the next system of moderate rains in the northern Plains and Upper Midwest early next week.

Turkey has sold a total of 150,000 tonnes of wheat that included feed wheat, durum and red and white milling wheat.
Bron:CME