US wheat futures touch contract lows on beneficial rains
U.S. wheat futures set contract lows on Monday as more rain was expected in dry growing areas of the Plains after showers over the weekend, analysts said.
Rain is projected to aid wheat crops in the Plains over the next 10 days, Commodity Weather Group said on Monday morning.
Analysts on average expected the U.S. Department of Agriculture to rate 47% of the nation's winter wheat crop in good to excellent condition in a weekly report due at 3 p.m. CDT (2000 GMT) on Monday, according to a Reuters survey. That would be up from 45% a week ago.
For spring wheat, grown mostly in the northern Plains, analysts on average estimated U.S. planting progress as 31% complete, up from 17% the previous week.
CBOT July soft red winter wheat (WN25) dropped 14 cents to end at $5.31 per bushel. The contract earlier set a low of $5.27-1/4.
K.C. July hard red winter wheat (KWN25) ended down 11-1/4 cents at $5.39-3/4 per bushel after reaching a contract low of $5.34-1/2.
Minneapolis July spring wheat (MWEN25) was 8 cents lower at $5.98-1/4 a bushel at the end of trading.
