Wheat prices settle lower in American trade ahead of Yellen's speech

Wheat futures tilted lower in American trade as the dollar index rose according to their inverse relation, which follows a spate of data from the U.S., the world's second largest wheat exporter.
 
As of 07:51 GMT, wheat futures due on March 16 fell 0.23% to $432.50 a bushel from the opening price of $433.50, with an intraday low at $428.25, and a high at $434.50, while the dollar index rose 0.57% to 100.90 from the opening of 100.41.
 
U.S. consumer prices rose 0.3% in December, matching expectations and up from November's 0.2% rise, while Core prices rose 0.2%, the same as expectations and the previous reading. On a yearly basis, prices rose 2.1%, matching expectations, and up from 1.7% in the previous reading, while core prices rose 2.2%, up from 2.1% in November.

Similarly, U.S. industrial production rose 0.8% in December, matching expectations and a far cry from November's 0.4% tumble.
 
As for the Capacity Utilization Rate, it rose to 75.5% from 75% in the previous reading, missing expectations of 75.6%.

The NAHB Housing Market Index fell to 67 in January from 69 in December, missing expectations of 69.
 
On another note, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari spoke about the economy at the Minneapolis Urban League, while investors await Fed Chair Janet Yellen's speech later titled "The Goals of Monetary Policy and How We Pursue Them" at the Commonwealth Club, in San Francisco.

Finally, traders also await the Beige Book, which derives its importance from getting released two weeks before the FOMC meeting, and upon which policymakers depend in their decisions to boost the economy.