Outside markets and a better weather outlook for the US hard red wheat belt pressured futures markets in overnight trade. US bank shares had rallied around 22% since the Trump victory in the US, some say yesterday’s adjustment was simply profit taking or a step back into the real world. Repealing laws that were passed after the GFC to help protect the American investors will not be as easy to repeal or modify as Trump may expect but in saying that it is America and the wheels of industry do appear to be easily greased.
The fall in US hard red wheat puts nearby futures at a seven week low. Weekly crop condition ratings declined but even at only 38% good to excellent in Kansas many expect the predicted rain will soon see that percentage increase. Last nights rainfall model update does tend to show a little more of the HRW belt getting more rain than the previous up date. Much of the eastern HRW belt will see good falls of 30-50 mills. The eastern edge is also the better yielding area of much of the HRW belt. Nebraska and Iowa will see heavy falls which should help set up row crop activities in a few weeks.
Crops across much of Europe and the Black Sea continue to look very good for this time of year.
Over the last 30 days India has seen around 10-20 mills across the main wheat / chickpea area. The two week outlook calls for little to no rain so we should see harvest begin to pickup there in April.