EU wheat pauses after 6-day rally on Black Sea risks

PARIS, Nov 23 (Reuters): European wheat edged lower on Friday after rising for six consecutive sessions as improved prospects for the Australian harvest weighed on the market but it remained supported by sharp fall of the euro and a scaling-up of the war in Ukraine.

Benchmark December milling wheat on Paris-based Euronext, was down 0.8 per cent by 1630 GMT to 218.5 euros ($227.11) a metric ton. By the same time most traded wheat on the Chicago Board of Trade was down 1.2 per cent to $5.62-3/4 a bushel.

In a further escalation of the 33-month-old war, Russia fired a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile at Dnipro on Thursday in response to the US and the UK allowing Kyiv to strike Russian territory with advanced Western weapons.

"Tensions are rising and the market does not like uncertainty, especially when it involves such big exporters," a trader said.

The fall of the euro, which hit a two-year low on Friday, is welcome as European wheat faces stiff competition from Russian wheat, traders said.

"We are seeing repeated discussions about Russian 11.5 per cent wheat under $220 a ton FOB, a level the EU will not be competitive against, even Romania," a German trader said.

"Selling pressure from Russia in export markets remains strong but the main Middle Eastern importers including Egypt, seem to have pretty good supply cover," he added.