CHICAGO: Wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade closed lower on Friday after a choppy session, but still eked out a modest weekly gain, supported by fund short-covering, traders said.

K.C. hard red winter wheat futures closed higher on Friday as warm and windy conditions in the southern Plains threatened to push some of the region’s wheat to break dormancy and lose some of its winter hardiness.

MGEX spring wheat futures followed K.C. wheat higher.

Record-large global supplies and poor export demand for US wheat continue to hang over all three markets, limiting rallies and keeping values near contract lows.

USDA reported export sales of US wheat in the week to Feb. 11 at 307,900 tonnes (old and new crop years combined), in line with trade expectations for 200,000 to 400,000 tonnes.

USDA’s weekly tally included Egypt buying 30,000 tonnes of US hard red spring wheat, its first purchase of that variety since 2010.

Egypt’s main state grain buyer booked 60,000 tonnes of French wheat and 180,000 tonnes of Russian wheat at an international tender, at an average of $193.91 a tonne including cost and freight.—Reuters