Wheat Futures Hold Near Six-Week Lows as Strong Dollar Offsets Demand Signals

Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) wheat futures held steady near six-week lows on Friday, with gains capped by a strong U.S. dollar that makes American agricultural products more expensive for international buyers. Corn and soybean futures also faced downward pressure from robust supply forecasts and the ongoing U.S. harvest.

Grains Face Headwinds

A new import tender from Saudi Arabia provided some support for wheat prices, but the bullish demand signal was largely offset by the currency market, according to market analysts. A stronger dollar acts as a significant headwind for U.S. commodity exports.

Meanwhile, CBOT corn futures continued to trade near a six-week low, with the market still digesting a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report from earlier in the week that showed larger-than-expected domestic corn stockpiles. Soybean futures also fell, touching a five-week low, as the current U.S. harvest is anticipated to produce a large crop.

As of 11:43 a.m. CDT (1643 GMT), key contracts reported the following movements:

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• Wheat was down 0.04% at $6.82-1/2 a bushel.
• Corn declined 1.05% to $4.97 a bushel.
• Soybeans fell 0.55% to $12.77 a bushel.

Harvest Outlook and Data Ahead

Traders are now focused on the size and progress of the U.S. corn and soybean harvests. Market participants are looking ahead to the USDA's next crop production report and its monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report, both scheduled for release next week.

In a recent update, commodity brokerage StoneX revised its U.S. crop forecasts. The firm lowered its estimate for the average U.S. corn yield and production but raised its projections for both soybean yield and production compared to its September 8 report.