July 19 (Bloomberg) — Wheat fell for a second straight session on sales by speculative investors after prices reached a seven-month high.
Since June 9, the eve of wheat’s latest rally, the most- active contract has gained 35 percent, jumping last week to the highest since Nov. 23, as adverse weather depressed output. Investors who had bet on a run-up may be selling contracts because the high prices aren’t justified by fundamentals, said William Bayer, a partner at PTI Securities in Chicago.
“If I were long wheat, or if I bought it on the way up, I would be getting nervous,” Bayer said. “I suspect we’re going to see some profit-taking in corn and beans, and that’s going to spill over into the wheat market.”
Wheat futures for September delivery fell 8.75 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $5.785 a bushel at 10:16 a.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade. Though dry weather in Russia and wet weather in Canada threaten production, global stockpiles are expected to be the highest since 2002, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show.
Wheat is the fourth-biggest U.S. crop, valued at $10.6 billion in 2009, behind corn, soybeans and hay, government data show.
–Editors: Michael Arndt, Patrick McKiernan.
To contact the reporter on this story: Tony C. Dreibus in Chicago at tdreibus@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at sstroth@bloomberg.net.
