BLBG: Wheat May Fall for a Second Day as Stronger Dollar Saps Demand
By Luzi Ann Javier
March 2 (Bloomberg) -- Wheat may fall for a second day in Chicago as a stronger dollar reduces the appeal of U.S. crops for importers and investors.
Wheat for May delivery slipped 0.1 percent to $5.0425 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade at 12:59 p.m. in London, rebounding from a drop of as much as 0.7 percent. The U.S. Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the greenback’s strength, advanced as much as 0.8 percent as Greek civil servants called a 24-hour strike, weighing on the euro.
“Any recovery in the dollar could reduce foreign buying as U.S. wheat becomes more expensive in other currencies,” CWA Global Markets Pty said in a note today. Higher global wheat supplies are also damping prices, Peter McGuire, managing director at CWA in Sydney, said by phone.
Worldwide wheat output will exceed demand for a second year, helping to boost stockpiles to 195.9 million metric tons after the 2009-10 marketing year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Milling wheat for March delivery traded on the Liffe exchange in Paris declined as much as 2.1 percent to 119 euros ($161) a ton, the lowest price since Sept. 15. The contract was recently at 119.75 euros.
“People are selling out because of heavy stockpiles,” said Xavier Durand-Viel of brokerage Plantureux SA in Paris.
Stockpiles of all grains worldwide, including wheat, corn and rice, will rise 3 percent this year to 523.1 million tons, the highest level in eight years, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations said last month.
Soybeans for May delivery were little changed at $9.6225 a bushel in Chicago after gaining as much as 0.3 percent. Corn for May delivery rose 0.1 percent to $3.8225 a bushel, paring a climb of as much as 0.6 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Luzi Ann Javier in Singapore at ljavier@bloomberg.net