Wheat Closes Friday Mixed

Market Overview - The wheat complex exhibited mixed performance, with the Kansas City (KC) wheat market being the weakest among the segments [1] - Chicago SRW futures increased by 1 to 2 cents, but March futures were down 19 ½ cents for the week [1] - KC HRW futures experienced losses of 1 to 2 cents, with March down 2 ¾ cents for the week [1] - MPLS spring wheat saw gains of 5 to 6 cents on Friday, closing the week up 2 ¼ cents [1] Export Sales and Demand - Export Sales data is expected to be released on Monday, with analysts predicting wheat sales between 300,000 to 600,000 MT for the week ending December 4 [2] Speculative Trading and Crop Estimates - A CFTC update indicated that spec traders in CBT wheat futures and options increased their net short position by 2,228 contracts, totaling 46,069 contracts as of December 19 [3] - In KC wheat, managed money reduced their net short position by 900 contracts, bringing it to 17,011 contracts [3] - South Korea has purchased 50,000 MT of wheat from the US and 9,200 MT from Canada [3] - The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange estimates the Argentine wheat crop at 27.1 million metric tons (MMT), an increase of 1.6 MMT from previous estimates [3] Price Movements - Closing prices for various wheat futures on March 26 were as follows: - CBOT Wheat: March at $5.09 ¾ (up 2 cents), May at $5.20 ½ (up 1 ¾ cents) [4] - KCBT Wheat: March at $5.15 ¼ (down 1 ¾ cents), May at $5.27 ¾ (down 1 ½ cents) [4] - MGEX Wheat: March at $5.78 (up 5 cents), May at $5.89 ½ (up 5 ½ cents) [4]