Wheat futures shed over 1% in American trade

Wheat futures fell over one percent in American trade even as the dollar index lost ground, following a spate of data from the US, the world's second largest wheat exporter. 

As of 08:58 GMT, wheat futures due on December 15 slid 1.09% to $4.3000 from the opening of $4.3475, while the dollar index declined 0.08% to 93.41 from the opening of 93.48. 

Earlier from the US, Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley participated in a panel discussion titled "Dallas and New York as Centers of Growth" at an event jointly hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, in New York.

Earlier US data showed housing starts and building permits fell more than expected in September, as markets look forward to the Beige Book later today, which derives its importance from being released two weeks before the Federal Open Market Committee, and lays the background for policymakers' decisions and directions in order to stimulate the economy. 

Otherwise, the US Department of Agriculture's report on global supply and demand for October raised forecasts for wheat inventories in the year ending next August to 960 million bushels from 933 million in September forecasts, while markets expected 944 million.

The USDA reported wheat sales for the fourth week of the new marketing year starting last month at 492.3 thousand metric tonnes, falling within forecasts of 300 to 500 thousand tonnes, with Philippine the top buyer at 87.8 thousand, followed by China and Japan at about 68.1 thousand, then Taiwan at 33.3 thousand, and UAE at 30.0 thousand.  

The USDA grain harvest report for the week ending September 29 showed forecasts for winter harvest fell to 1.27 billion bushels for the 2017 marketing year, down 24% from the 2016 rate at 1.67 billion.