Technical selling and profit-taking led to losses for wheat futures in Chicago on Friday amid rising tensions in the Middle East. On Thursday, front-month March 20 hit its highest price level since August 2018, as the US military killed Iran's most prominent military commander in an airstrike in Baghdad, unsettling markets. Weekly US export sales were at the lower end of market expectations at 333,300 tons of wheat. Institutional investors sold 4,500 contracts of CBoT SRW wheat on Friday. The eCBoT is currently trading with moderate losses. Wheat futures on Euronext in Paris followed the negative cues from overseas and also ended the trading day with losses. The front month of March reached €190.75 on Thursday, the highest price since the end of June 2019. On the Kasssamarkt in Hamburg, premiums for export wheat remained stable at €5 above Paris March 2020 with 12% protein for delivery in January. December was characterized by brisk export shipments in Germany and the trend is continuing in January, according to traders. The market is currently also being supported by low selling interest. Many market participants have not yet returned to their desks after the holidays.
Source
HANSA Terminhandel
