CBOT wheat futures end lower ahead of monthly USDA crop report

CHICAGO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures ended modestly lower on Monday on follow-through selling after Friday's lower close as brokers awaited fresh fundamental direction.

• CBOT March soft red winter wheat WH26 settled down 1 cent at $5.28-3/4 per bushel.

• K.C. March hard red winter wheat KWH26 ended down 2-1/2 cents at $5.28-3/4 a bushel while Minneapolis March spring wheat MWEH26 rose 1/2 cent to finish at $5.70-1/2 per bushel.

• Traders shrugged off support from a setback in the dollar .DXY, which tends to make U.S. grains more competitive globally, as well as stronger-than-expected weekly U.S. export inspections.

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported export inspections of U.S. wheat in the latest week at 580,130 metric tons, topping a range of trade expectations for 300,000 to 500,000 tons. USDA/I

• Traders were squaring positions ahead of the USDA's monthly world supply-demand report on Tuesday.

• Analysts surveyed by Reuters, on average, expected the USDA to trim its forecast of U.S. 2025/26 wheat ending stocks while leaving global wheat stocks forecasts nearly unchanged.

• In global news, increased demand and bad weather in ports supported export prices for Russian wheat last week, offsetting forecasts of a strong new harvest, analysts said.