Wheat prices backtrack as Ukrainian government says no limit needed on grain exports

Wheat prices backtrack; other commodities mixed

Wheat prices fell nearly 4 percent Wednesday amid concerns about U.S. sales overseas after the Ukraine decided against limiting grain exports despite damage from a drought.

Wheat prices have risen in part because of speculation that more of the abundant U.S. harvest could be sold overseas after hot, dry weather hurt crops in Russia, Kazakhstan and the Ukraine.

The Ukrainian government last week was considering grain export quotas but said Wednesday that there was no need for limits at this time.

Russia imposed an export ban on its harvest earlier this month, saying more than one-third of its crop had been damaged.

U.S. wheat prices also were hurt when Egypt purchased the grain from Canada and Europe instead of the United States, said Richard Feltes, director of commodity research for MF Global in Chicago.

Wheat for December delivery fell 27.25 cents, or 3.9 percent, to $6.8050 a bushel. December corn slipped 0.5 cent to $4.20 a bushel and November soybeans were unchanged at $9.99 a bushel.

Other commodities were mixed as disappointing economic reports about housing sales and durable goods orders provided more proof of the sluggish economy, Feltes said.

Copper prices fell after the Commerce Department said orders for durable goods, excluding transportation, fell at the steepest rate since January.

The agency also said new home sales fell 12.4 percent in July from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual sales pace of 276,600. Collectively, the past three months have been the worst on record for new home sales.

Copper is used in manufacturing products and in construction, such as wiring and pipes. Copper for December delivery fell 3.05 cents to settle at $3.2315 a pound.

December gold gained $7.90 to settle at $1,241.30 an ounce and December silver added 64.4 cents to settle at $19.072 an ounce. September palladium rose $7.30 to settle at $491.55 an ounce and October platinum increased $9.70 to $1,527.40 an ounce.

Oil prices settled higher after falling immediately after the economic reports in the morning.

Benchmark crude for October delivery rose 89 cents to settle at $72.52 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In other Nymex trading in September contracts, natural gas for September delivery fell 16.8 cents to settle at $3.871 per 1,000 cubic feet; heating oil added 3.49 cents to settle at $1.9706 a gallon; and gasoline inched up 1.45 cents to settle at $1.8639 a gallon.