CBOT wheat rises on bargain buying after contract lows

April 30 - Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures closed higher on bargain buying on Wednesday as the market rebounded from contract lows, analysts said.

• Short covering helped support gains after recent losses left the market oversold, traders said.

• Market chatter indicated that Chinese buyers had returned to buy foreign wheat this week. In Europe, traders were watching to see if China would turn back to French wheat and further revive France's export outlook after recent interest from Egypt.

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture is slated to issue weekly U.S. grain and soybean export sales data on Thursday. Analysts' expectations range from net cancellations of 200,000 metric tons to net sales of 300,000 metric tons for wheat.

• CBOT July soft red winter wheat WN25 closed 5-1/4 cents higher at $5.30-3/4 per bushel. The contract earlier set a low of $5.23-1/4.

• K.C. July hard red winter wheat KWN25 ended down 1-1/2 cents at $5.29-1/2 per bushel after earlier setting a contract low of $5.27-1/4.

• Recent rain has benefited HRW wheat crops in the U.S. Plains region, and forecasters said more showers are expected.

• Minneapolis July spring wheat MWEN25 rose 3 cents to $5.95-3/4 a bushel.