Nogger's Blog

08/11/10 -- EU wheat futures closed firmer with Nov10 London wheat up GBP1.25 to GBP170.25/tonne and Nov10 Paris wheat EUR4.25 firmer at EUR229.50/tonne.

Paris wheat was aided by the weakness of the euro which fell to a five week low against the pound on concern over Ireland's ability to cope with it's budget deficit.

It's a public holiday in Spain tomorrow, which prompted many traders there to take today off and make a nice ling weekend out of it.

Trading activity was light ahead of tomorrow's USDA reports.

Nothing too startling is expected for US wheat ending stocks, but forecasts for production in other nations around the world will be scrutinised.

The success of Argentine and Australian wheat at last week's Egyptian tender will be keeping traders minds focused on imminent new crop arrivals for those countries. EU wheat export licence applications have slackened off markedly in recent weeks.

Weather concerns remain for US winter wheat even though rain is in the forecast for much of the dry High Plains later in the week. The flip side is that temperatures are also forecast to plummet, with snow even on the radar for some areas, that might bring on winter dormancy and limit the beneficial effect that any rains may have.