CBOT wheat futures close lower in subdued trade

CHICAGO, March 7 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures closed lower on Friday on improving French winter wheat conditions and a lack of supportive news, traders said.

• Traders shrugged off weakness in the dollar .DXY, which is normally a supportive factor for grains by making U.S. goods more competitive globally.

• CBOT May soft red winter wheat WK25 settled down 2-3/4 cents at $5.51-1/4 per bushel. For the week, the May contract ended down 4-1/2 cents a bushel or 0.8%.

• K.C. May hard red winter wheat KWK25 finished down 1 cent on Friday at $5.64-3/4 a bushel and Minneapolis May spring wheat MWEK25 settled down 1-1/4 cents at $5.92-3/4.

• Ratings for France's main wheat crop improved slightly in the last week but remained close to last year's rain-hit levels, farm office FranceAgriMer reported.

• European wheat futures fell to a six-month low.

• Traders are also monitoring dryness in the U.S. Plains winter wheat belt. Some 24% of the winter wheat crop nationally was in an area experiencing drought as of March 4, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Thursday, up from 22% the previous week.

• Market players await USDA's next monthly supply/demand report on March 11.