CBOT wheat closes lower after USDA reports larger-than-expected stocks

CHICAGO, March 11 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures ended lower on Tuesday, after the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported domestic and global wheat inventories were above trade expectations, market analysts said.

• CBOT May soft red winter wheat WK25 settled down 5-3/4 cents at $5.56-3/4 a bushel.

• K.C. May hard red winter wheat KWK25 ended down 6-1/2 cents at $5.72 a bushel, while Minneapolis May spring wheat MWEK25 settled down 7-1/4 cents at $5.97-1/4 a bushel.

• Grain traders were also monitoring U.S. tariff policy, which has unsettled financial markets because of fears that it will curb economic growth. MKTS/GLOB

• Separately, the agency in a weekly crop report on Monday, lowered its good-to-excellent rating for wheat crops in Kansas.

• U.S. and Argentine wheat were considered to be in contention for an Algerian tender, though firming Chicago prices had pushed U.S. Gulf and Argentine FOB prices about $2-$4 over Russian prices as the week started, traders said.