04/07/05 A bounce for wheat futures

04/07/05 A bounce for wheat futures

Marketline April 7, 2005 Wheat future closed higher Wednesday on thin volume on some light fund buying and oversold conditions. The trade will get new USDA supply and demand numbers tomorrow morning. Gary Hofer of Gary Hofer Commodities, says yesterday's action was consolidation and not unusual coming close to a sharp sell off that has seen Chicago loss 20 cents since last Wednesday. Hofer: "The direction of price movement is being influenced by excellent wheat crop conditions across the grain belt and a stronger dollar. The funds that had so enthusiastically bought thousands of contracts of wheat in the last half of February through March have apparently abandoned their new positions and returned to a net even spot. The net easy downside money is out of this market. From here on it will be smaller moves for a while punctuated by sharp price jabs based on individual pieces of news." On Wednesday Chicago May wheat was up three cents at 3-14 1/4. May corn up 1 3/4 at 2-07 1/4. Portland cash white wheat steady to a penny higher at mostly 3-91. New crop August white wheat unchanged to lower at 3-78. Club wheat 3-94. PNW HRW 11.5 percent protein 4-05. Dark northern spring 14% protein 4-77. Export barley 102 dollars a ton. At auction this week, 400-500 pound steers were 127 to 139.50 at Klamath Falls, 116 to 133.50 at Jerome, Idaho. The Plains fed cattle trade remained fairly quiet Wednesday. Boxed beef was mixed. Thoughts of a lower cash trade this week and spillover from hogs pressured cattle futures. June live cattle down 95 cents at 83-52. May feeders down 160 at 104-07. May Class III milk up two cents at 14-32. I'm Bob Hoff and that's Marketline on the Northwest Ag Information Network.
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