CBOT wheat ends down as short-covering support fades, corn retreats

CHICAGO, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures ended lower on Wednesday as short covering and technical buying that had lifted prices early in the session faded, and as spillover pressure from lower corn futures weighed on the market.

• Wheat had rallied sharply from contract lows on Tuesday on technical support, short covering and bargain buying. Follow-through buying had lifted the market for much of Wednesday's session, but that support faded late in the day.

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture is due to release weekly export sales data early on Thursday. Analysts surveyed by Reuters expect net U.S. wheat export sales in the week ended September 18 at 300,000 to 600,000 metric tons.

• CBOT December soft red winter wheat WZ25 settled 1 cent lower at $5.19-1/2 per bushel after hitting overhead technical resistance at its 20-day moving average.

• K.C. December hard red winter wheat KWZ25 last traded 4-1/2 cents lower at $5.07 a bushel.

• Minneapolis December spring wheat MWEZ25 ended unchanged at $5.67-3/4 a bushel.