Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures closed higher on Tuesday on technical buying and short-covering after the most-active December contract held above chart support established early this month near $5.05 a bushel, traders said. CBOT December soft red winter wheat settled up 1 cent at $5.09 per bushel after dipping to $5.05-1/4, its lowest since Oct. 2.
K.C. December hard red winter wheat ended down 1/4 cent at $5.07-1/2 a bushel, after hitting $5.02-1/2, its lowest since Sept. 14. MGEX December spring wheat fell 1/2 cent to $5.85. Chicago Board of Trade corn futures ended modestly higher on Tuesday on technical buying and a lack of farmer selling, traders said.
CBOT December corn settled up 3/4 cent at $3.70-1/4 per bushel, a day after holding above support at its 50-day moving average near $3.64. The US Department of Agriculture late Monday said the US winter wheat crop was 72 percent planted, behind the five-year average of 77 percent and lagging an average of trade expectations for 76 percent.
The USDA said 53 percent of the crop had emerged, compared with the five-year average of 55 percent. Russia's IKAR agriculture consultancy increased its wheat export forecast for this year to 33 million tonnes from 32.5 million tonnes. Farmer selling was thin as producers in the heart of the US Corn Belt scrambled to catch up harvesting crops following rain delays earlier this month.
The US Department of Agriculture said late on Monday the US corn harvest was 49 percent complete, ahead of the five-year average of 47 percent but behind an average of trade expectations for 51 percent.
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