CHICAGO - U.S. wheat and soybean futures fell on Friday, ‌retreating from multi-month highs set a day earlier as traders booked profits and squared positions ahead of a long U.S. holiday weekend ​and the upcoming Lunar New Year holidays in China, analysts said.

Reminders of ample global wheat supplies and news that India would allow wheat ​exports ​added pressure. Corn futures edged higher.

Chicago Board of Trade March wheat futures settled down 3-3/4 cents at $5.48-3/4 per bushel, after peaking on Thursday at $5.53-1/2, the contract's highest since November 20.

CBOT March soybeans ended down 4-1/4 ⁠cents at $11.33 a bushel while March corn settled up 1/2 cent at $4.31-3/4 a bushel.

Wheat declined after a sharp two-session climb that analysts attributed to short-covering. Open interest in CBOT wheat futures fell on Wednesday and Thursday as prices rose, CBOT data showed, a sign of traders liquidating short positions. Trading volume was heavy on the two-day rally, ​with more than 300,000 CBOT ‌wheat contracts traded ⁠each day.

On Friday, ⁠outlooks for large global wheat harvests in 2026 weighed on prices. IKAR, a consultancy, raised its forecast of the 2026 wheat crop ​in Russia, the world's biggest exporter, to 91 million metric tons, from 88 ‌million previously.

Ratings for winter crops in France, the European Union's biggest grower, ⁠hit their best in three years, farm office FranceAgriMer data showed.

India's government allowed the export of 2.5 million metric tons of wheat as the world's second-biggest producer sought to support local growers amid protests over a trade deal between New Delhi and Washington.

Following this week's run of short-covering, "these bearish global supply fundamentals are going to come back to the forefront," said Randy Place, an analyst at Hightower Report.

Soybeans ticked lower on pre-weekend profit-taking a day after the CBOT March soybean contract reached its highest since early December. The arrival of a bumper Brazilian harvest anchored prices as well.

Soybeans rallied after U.S. President Donald Trump said last week that China had increased ‌its target for U.S. soybean purchases, and a report in the South China ⁠Morning Post on Thursday said Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping could extend their ​countries' trade truce for as long as a year.

Corn futures eked out modest gains, supported by a strong U.S. export pace and concerns about grain quality in China, Place said.

Chinese buyers have ramped up feed grain purchases in recent months, ​taking large volumes ‌of Australian barley and U.S. sorghum after rain damaged the domestic corn harvest, trade sources ⁠said.