Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures fell sharply on Thursday on technical selling and long liquidation, and on worries that the United States and China remain far apart in talks aimed at ending their bitter tariff war, traders said. CBOT March soft red winter wheat fell 12-3/4 cents to $5.13-1/4 a bushel, breaking through chart support at its 50- and 100-day moving averages. K.C. March hard red winter wheat ended down 13 cents at $4.96-1/4 a bushel and MGEX March spring wheat fell 8-3/4 cents to $5.64-1/2 a bushel.

Investors squared positions ahead of a bevy of US Department of Agriculture (USDA) crop reports due Friday, including some data delayed by the recent partial US government shutdown. News that US President Donald Trump and China's Xi Jinping would not meet during upcoming trade talks dashed hopes that the two sides were progressing on a deal to end a bitter trade fight that has slashed Chinese purchases of US agricultural products.

Earlier on Thursday, White House adviser Larry Kudlow said in an interview on Fox Business Network that there was a sizable distance to go in US-China trade talks.

Copyright Reuters, 2019