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To: pallmer who wrote (3856)	12/8/2002 10:15:11 PM
From: pallmer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29597

-- CBOT wheat ends up on bounce from oversold signals -- CHICAGO, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Wheat futures at the Chicago Board of Trade closed higher on Friday on a technical bounce amid oversold signals after Thursday's plunge to fresh four month lows, traders said. CBOT wheat closed 2-1/4 to 4-3/4 cents per bushel higher, with December <WZ2>, which is in delivery status, up 2-1/4 at $3.49-1/4 per bushel. March <WH3> closed 4-3/4 higher at $3.57-3/4 per bushel. Much of the activity was centered on position-squaring and consolidation after the steep slide of wheat futures this week left the market in oversold territory. The nine-day relative strength index for the March contract early Friday stood at 18 percent, well below the 30 percent mark that is generally viewed as an oversold level. Technical support in the March contract was pegged at $3.49 per bushel and resistance was at $3.60. Wheat tumbled Thursday on bearish input from a wave of fund long liquidation coupled with bearish wheat export numbers in Thursday's U.S. Department of Agriculture's weekly export sales report. Also, a Statistics Canada report Thursday showed Canadian wheat production this year at a level slightly above the firm's previous estimate. The market had been poised for a reduction in wheat production estimates from Stats Canada not an increase. Pressure from the delivery market limited gains in the December contract with a heavy 1,066 lots posted early Friday against that month. "ADM had been stopping the wheat but they started putting it on the street this morning and that spooked everybody a little," a trader said. ADM posted 306 lots against the December early Friday, according to the CBOT. There was scattered stopping featuring customers of Century, Combs, Henning, USA Trading and LBS Div. Some in the market had been expecting light deliveries on the December because of tight wheat stocks in the United States. But routine demand for U.S. wheat and persistent signs of competition in the export arena from Eastern Europe and recently from China has helped push the wheat into the delivery cycle. Export workings overnight were routine with South Korea a buyer of 32,800 tonnes of optional-origin feed wheat. Late Thursday, the U.S. CCC announced a purchase of 25,000 tonnes of spring and white wheat for donation to Vietnam. Further evidence of stiff competition for the export dollar surfaced early Friday. SovEcon Ltd., an independent research organization, early Friday reported that Russia's exports of wheat in October reached a new monthly high of 1.40 million tonnes, 124,000 tonnes above the previous monthly high. The European Union remains Russia's major wheat market but Italy, Greece and Spain also were good customers for Russian wheat during the month. SovEcon said Russia's wheat prices remained highly competitive and Russia is striving to increase its market share in northern Africa and in the Middle East. Weather in the U.S. winter wheat growing region remained satisfactory for the crop with the recent cold snap pushing the crop into dormancy. Wheat crop conditions remained favorable, according to Weather Services Corp. Fund buying was estimated at 2,000 lots. Carr Futures bought 800 lots, Goldenberg Hehmeyer bought 700 March, Prudential Securities bought 300 March, CIS sold 800 March, ADM Investor Services sold 600 March, Tenco Inc. spread 1,500 December/March and Salomon Smith Barney spread 700 March/December. CBOT wheat futures volume was estimated by the CBOT at 19,273 contracts, down from the 31,502 lots traded on Thursday. Wheat options volume was estimated at 5,958 contracts. After the markets closed the CFTC commitment of traders report said funds were net long 11,094 Chicago wheat futures/options as of Dec. 3. Longs fell by 1,046 lots, and shorts were down 9,781 from the previous report. In futures only, funds were long 7,825 contracts. ((Sam Nelson, Chicago commodities desk (312)408-8720, chicago.commods.newsroom@reuters.com)) (C) Reuters 2002. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world. nN06170932 WHE/C WHE/ 06-Dec-2002 21:43:24 GMT Source RTRS - Reuters News