Wheat plumbs week low as dollar hits two-week high

Wheat futures fell over one percent in American trade away from November 13 highs, as the dollar index hit two-week highs, following earlier data from the US, the world's second largest wheat producer and exporter. 

As of 08:29 GMT, wheat futures due in March fell 1.46% to $5.0650, marking November 20 lows, while the dollar index rose 0.29% to 97.36, marking two-week highs. 

The US Department of Agriculture reported inspections of 252.2 thousand tonnes of wheat product destined for export in the week ending November 22, compared to 509.3 thousand in the previous week, and 348.3 thousand in the same period of 2017, with total inspected product now amounting to 10 million tonnes in the current marketing year, down from 12.4 million in the same duration of 2017. 

Otherwise, Federal Reserve Governor Richard Clarida spoke about data dependence and monetary policy at The Clearing House and Bank Policy Institute's Annual Conference, in New York, where he noted gradual rate hikes are still the appropriate path for monetary policy, with data supporting the direction of normalizing policies as the labor sector strengthens and wages rise. 

An index tracking US house prices rose 0.2% in September, slowing down from 0.4% in August, while the S&P House Price Index rose 5.1% y/y, slowing down as well from 5.5% in August and missing expectations of 5.3%. 

An index tracking US consumer confidence fell to 135.7 in November from 137.9 in October, missing estimates of 136.2.