CBOT wheat ends lower on profit-taking, rains for US Plains

CHICAGO, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures closed lower on Wednesday, backing down from one-month highs on profit-taking, forecasts for beneficial rains in the southern U.S. Plains and spillover pressure from declines in corn and soybean futures, traders said.

• CBOT December soft red winter wheat WZ25 settled down 5-3/4 cents at $5.28-1/4 per bushel, retreating after a climb to $5.35-3/4, the contract's highest since August 11.

• K.C. December hard red winter wheat KWZ25 ended down 7-1/4 cents at $5.16-1/4 a bushel and Minneapolis December spring wheat MWEZ25 fell 2-1/2 cents to finish at $5.74 a bushel.

• An uptick in the U.S. dollar .DXY added pressure ahead of the Federal Reserve's widely anticipated interest rate cut. A firmer dollar tends to make U.S. grains less competitive globally. MKTS/GLOB

• Forecasts called for more showers that should recharge soil moisture in the Southern Plains, bolstering production prospects as farmers start to plant the 2026 winter wheat crop.

• Statistics Canada raised its estimate of Canada's 2025 all-wheat harvest to 36.6 million metric tons, up 1.9% from last year and above its August 28 estimate of 35.5 million tons. The agency's latest estimates were based in part on satellite and climatic data.

• Euronext wheat futures hit a two-week high, helped by an easing in the euro and signs that Russian prices are steadying after a recent fall.

• Ahead of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's weekly export sales report on Thursday, analysts expected the government to report export sales of U.S. wheat in the week ended September 11 at 300,000 to 650,000 metric tons.