CBOT wheat ends firm after choppy session; KC, Minneapolis end lower

CHICAGO, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures ended modestly higher on Wednesday after a choppy session, supported by technical buying and a setback in the U.S. dollar .DXY from two-year highs.

• CBOT March soft red winter wheat WH25 settled up 3/4 cent at $5.47 per bushel.

• CBOT wheat gained relative to K.C. and Minneapolis wheat futures on inter-market spreads. K.C. March hard red winter wheat KWH25 ended down 3-1/4 cents at $5.57-1/2 a bushel and Minneapolis March spring wheat MWEH25 fell 2 cents to end at $5.87-1/2.

• A softer dollar makes U.S. grains more attractive to those holding other currencies. The greenback weakened against major peers after cooler-than-expected data eased fears that inflation was accelerating.

• Traders were monitoring forecasts for another round of frigid weather early next week that could threaten winter wheat in areas of the Plains and Midwest that lack a protective layer of snow cover.

• Euronext wheat fell for a second straight session as traders remained focused on sluggish export demand for EU supplies.

• Farm office FranceAgriMer kept its monthly forecast for 2024/25 French soft wheat exports outside the European Union unchanged at the lowest this century, as a dearth of demand from Algeria and China continued to weigh.

• Ahead of Thursday's weekly USDA export sales report, traders expected the government to report U.S. wheat export sales in the week ended Jan. 9 at 150,000 to 400,000 metric tons.

(Reporting by Julie Ingwersen; Editing by Aurora Ellis)

((Julie.ingwersen@thomsonreuters.com; 1-313-484-5283; Reuters Messaging: julie.ingwersen.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))