Wheat falls off six-month high after USDA inventory report

Wheat futures fell nearly two percent for the second straight session away from August 8 highs as the dollar index rose for the sixth straight session to near a two-week high, following earlier data from the US, the world's second largest wheat exporter.

As of 08:28 GMT, wheat futures due on March 15 fell 1.59% to $4.4900 from the opening of $4.5625, while the dollar index rose 0.19% to 90.40 from the opening of 90.23. 

Earlier data showed US wholesale inventories rose 0.4% in the final December reading, up from 0.2% in the preliminary reading, while analysts expected a 0.2% rise with no change, as wholesale sales for the same month slowed down to 1.2% from 1.9% in November, beating expectations of a 0.4% rise.

The US Department of Agriculture released its monthly report on wheat inventories for the marketing year ending next May 31, forecasting 1,009 million bushels, up from 989 million in January forecasts, as exports projections fell to 950 billion from 975 billion. 

The USDA reported total wheat sales in the week ending February 1 at 393.4 thousand tonnes, up 36% from the previous week, and 67% from the four-week average, with Mexico at the top of the buyers list at 106.4 thousand tonnes, followed by South Korea at 79.4 thousand tonnes. 

Then Indonesia at 74.4 thousand tonnes, and Nigeria and Japan at 34 thousand and 33.5 thousand respectively, while unknown buyers accounted for 57.4 thousand tonnes.