CBOT wheat ends firmer on short covering, fund buying

CHICAGO, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures finished higher on Friday on short covering and buying by commodity funds, traders said.

• The market rebounded after declining during the previous two sessions.

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported net old-crop U.S. wheat export sales in the week ended February 13 at 532,700 metric tons. Analysts expected 300,000 to 600,000 metric tons.

• New-crop export sales of 98,500 tons exceeded estimates for zero to 50,000 tons.

• Concerns have eased about cold weather hurting dormant U.S. winter wheat crops, traders said.

• Across the northern and central Plains, a protective layer of snow over winter wheat is far more extensive than during a cold wave last month, USDA said in a daily weather report.

• CBOT May soft red winter wheat WK25 ended up 3-3/4 cents at $6.04 per bushel but fell 1.5% this week.

• K.C. May hard red winter wheat KWK25 rose 1-3/4 cents to $6.21-3/4 per bushel, and Minneapolis May spring wheat MWEK25 eased 1-1/4 cents to $6.46-1/2 per bushel.