US wheat futures jumped about 5 percent on Thursday as a flurry of export deals prompted funds to cover short positions, analysts said. Corn futures rose on short-covering and firm cash markets despite the ongoing US harvest, while soyabeans followed the higher trend. At the Chicago Board of Trade), December wheat settled up 19-1/4 cents at $4.16 per bushel. December corn ended up 12-1/2 cents at $3.49-1/2 a bushel and November soyabeans rose 10-3/4 cents, settling at $9.56-1/4 a bushel.
Wheat posted the biggest advance on a percentage basis. The December contract reached $4.17, a six-week high, and surpassed its 50-day moving average, a bullish technical signal. Commodity funds held a historically large net short position in CBOT wheat as of October 4, leaving the market vulnerable to short-covering rallies.
Also, export business picked up in the last day, with Saudi Arabia and Egypt both announcing plans to buy wheat. Algeria announced a purchase tender earlier this week, and Syria struck a deal to purchase 1 million tonnes of Russian wheat. Short-covering also lifted corn, along with strength in the domestic cash market. CBOT December corn neared the $3.50 mark toward the close. The contract hit $3.49-3/4, its highest since July 20, in the final minute and settled near that level, a strong close from a technical standpoint.
Soyabeans rallied from early declines, following strength in corn and wheat as well as in crude oil. A softer US dollar index added support to commodities, making US goods more attractive on the global market. Also, the November soyabean contract fell to $9.37-1/4 a bushel but held above its September 27 long-term low of $9.34, a bullish chart signal. The soyabean market faces overhead resistance from a record-large US crop. The US Department of Agriculture on Wednesday raised its forecast of US soyabean production to 4.269 billion bushels.
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