EU wheat recovers from contract lows as euro eases

Euronext wheat ticked higher on Friday to move away from contract lows, with an easing in the euro reinforcing the competitiveness of European wheat for export, traders and analysts said. March wheat (BL2H6), the most active contract on Paris-based Euronext, settled 0.4% up at 186.75 euros ($218.83) a metric ton, holding above Wednesday’s contract low at 185.00 euros. Chicago wheat also steadied after contract lows. An easing in the euro against the dollar after a lower-than-anticipated U.S. inflation reading reinforced the competitiveness of western European wheat. “It seems that wheat is trying to bottom out,” Andrey Sizov, head of consultancy Sovecon, said. “Bearish news – bumper Australian and Argentine crops, Black Sea ceasefire expectations – could have been largely priced in by now,” he said. “A somewhat weaker euro also could be a tailwind for Matif (Euronext).” Supply pressure from an expected record Argentine harvest was tempered by expectations that rain damage to crops ...