March Wheat finished down 8 3/4 at 519 3/4, 17 1/4 off the high and 1 3/4 up from the low. July Wheat closed down 9 1/4 at 546 1/4. This was 1 1/4 up from the low and 14 1/4 off the high.

The wheat market opened marginally lower this morning and sold off briefly in the opening minutes of trade. Prices then rallied to higher on the day during mid session before selling off to near the early lows into the close. Wheat lost sharply to corn on the day with wheat the clear leader to the downside among the grains today. Funds were buyers early of about 2000 contracts into late morning. Statistics Canada will release updated production estimates tomorrow with some traders expecting increases compared to their October release. Unwanted rains in the eastern Australian wheat belt have caused harvest delays with some areas now running 1 month behind. Rains are forecast in some affected areas through the end of the week. Sources there reported last week that some 1 million tonnes of hard wheat had been downgraded to feed quality. There are indications this week that the damaged total could rise to well above that level.

March Oats closed down 1 at 221. This was 2 up from the low and 5 1/4 off the high.