By Kirk Maltais 



  --Wheat for July delivery fell 1.6% to $5.15 1/4 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade Thursday amid forecasts for scattered rainfall in wheat-growing areas this weekend. 


  --Soybeans for July delivery were unchanged at $8.67 3/4 a bushel. 


  --Corn for July delivery rose 0.7% to $3.31 1/4 a bushel. 


  HIGHLIGHTS 


  Short Stay: Managed money funds backed off covering short positions in wheat Friday, which let the July CBOT contract sink. Futures pushed higher yesterday as wheat reacted to expectations of dry weather in U.S. wheat-growing areas as well as Russia. But scattered rainfall will hit areas of the U.S., E.U. and the Black Sea this weekend, according to agricultural weather research firm DTN. The weakening of the U.S. dollar also helped boost wheat yesterday, but that reversed course Friday, ending an eight-session losing streak for the greenback. 


  Not So Fast: While changes to weather forecasts caused grain traders to relax the closing of short positions in wheat, the short-covering of a sizable short position in corn by managed money traders continued today. "Open interest has been on the rise in the past week as well, and this would suggest that the managed money net fund positioning has increased again from the last Commitment of Traders update," said RJO Futures. In the CFTC's last weekly Commitment of Traders report, managed money funds are holding over 277,000 short contracts in corn. 


  INSIGHT 


  Demand Focus: The USDA's June WASDE report is expected to give grains traders more visibility on what demand in the U.S. will look like from the fallout of Covid-19. Key areas of focus for traders will be how much corn will be consumed by the stifled U.S. ethanol industry, as well as what the USDA forecasts for Chinese soybean export demand, said John Newton, chief economist with the American Farm Bureau Federation. Last month, the USDA raised its forecast for US corn consumption by the ethanol industry to 5.2 billion bushels, up from a forecast of 4.95 billion bushels the previous month. The USDA will release its monthly WASDE report June 11 at noon ET. 


  China Sales Streak: The USDA reported two new big sales of soybeans Friday, one for 258,000 metric tons and one for 330,000 tons. Both were for delivery to unknown destinations. The market regarded the buyer as China, considering rumors in the market that China was buying more soybeans yesterday. "China was rumored again to be booking U.S. beans yesterday with U.S. offers competitive to China," said Doug Bergman of RCM Alternatives. 


  AHEAD: 


  --The USDA releases its weekly grain export inspections data at 11 a.m. ET Monday. 


  --The USDA releases its weekly crop progress report for the 2020/21 crop at 4 p.m. ET Monday. 


  --The EIA releases its weekly update on ethanol production and inventories at 10:30 a.m. ET Wednesday. 


  Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com