Soft red winter wheat futures at the Chicago Board of Trade closed higher on Monday on spillover support from strong gains in soy, traders said.
CBOT wheat closed 1 to 3 cents per bushel higher, with July up 1-1/2 at $3.54-1/4.
Estimated volume was 21,395 futures and 2,808 options.
Wheat sagged early in the day on seasonal harvest pressure and quiet exports but the strong rally in soy triggered spillover speculative buying in the wheat pit, the traders said.
There were some forecasts for drier weather in the US winter wheat harvest areas, which will help farmers make progress in harvesting their crops.
But rainfall over the weekend further slowed combining of the US Plains hard red winter wheat crop, a private forecaster said on Monday. "There was from 0.30 inch to 1.50 inches in south-west Kansas, the Texas Panhandle and north-central Oklahoma," said Meteorlogix forecaster Joel Burgio.
USDA said after the markets closed that 37 percent of the US winter wheat crop was harvested as of Sunday, up from 23 percent a week ago and 26 percent for the five-year pace. USDA left its condition rating of the winter wheat crop unchanged, putting 42 percent in the good to excellent categories.
Big jumps in the soft red winter wheat harvest were made in Arkansas, 86 percent done, and in Illinois, 39 percent complete.
Exports were quiet over the weekend and cash basis bids for soft red winter wheat late Friday in the Midwest were steady as harvest selling was slow. Cash dealers said there were growing worries about outbreaks of head scab in northern Ohio wheat fields.
USDA early Monday said US wheat inspected for export last week totalled 16.371 million bushels, within the range of estimates for 15.0 million to 22.0 million bushels.
The USDA report showed that China shipped another 52,500 tonnes of US wheat last week.
Friday's CFTC commitments of traders report showed that large speculators edged to a slightly short stance in CBOT wheat futures for the week ended Tuesday, June 15. Funds were long 29,656 contracts, down 17, and short 31,925, up 2,423 from the week before.
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