Wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade were narrowly weaker at midsession on Thursday, pressured by disappointing export sales data released by the US Department of Agriculture. Prices were underpinned by light short-covering after Wednesday's lower close, traders said.

USDA reported export sales of US wheat for last week at 379,400 tonnes, below trade estimates for 500,000 to 700,000 tonnes.

Traders were awaiting USDA confirmation of recent sales of US wheat to Iraq. A senior Iraqi trade official on Wednesday said Iraq bought a total of 1 million tonnes of US wheat from Columbia Grain and Louis Dreyfus.

As of 11:15 am CDT (1615 GMT), CBOT December wheat was down 1/2 cent at $3.23 per bushel. Traders noted December has found support this week below $3.23. Deferred months were steady to down 3/4 cent.

Copyright Reuters, 2005