December wheat opened 1 3/4 cents lower this morning at 832 and established an early trading range of 826 to 845 3/4. Floor traders say that selling dried up quickly in wheat following the lower open. Locals and commission houses turned buyers, and wheat gained sharply on corn in early trade amid active trading by spreaders. Other reports indicated that spreaders were also unwinding long soybean/short wheat spreads. This activity comes against a backdrop of a Commitments of Traders Report that continues to show large and small speculators to be heavily net short in wheat. Weather was said to be a supportive factor this morning with near term forecasts suggesting a slowing of the hard red harvest and the 5-day forecast expected to slow the soft red harvest. However, beneficial rain is being reported in western growing areas of Australia with further rains expected in eastern Australia over the weekend. Egypt bought 145,000 tonnes of wheat, 60,000 of which was from either the US or Canada. The original tender was for 55-60,000 tonnes. This continues the trend toward strong export demand for wheat with purchase amounts often exceeding the original tenders.