US MIDDAY: wheat rises

Soft red winter wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade were up sharply at midsession on Friday after a bullish private crop estimate triggered fund buying and pushed the market into buy-stops, traders said.
Consulting firm Informa Economics estimated the 2006 US all-winter wheat production at 1.298 billion bushels, down from actual 2005 crop of 1.499 billion, trade sources said.
Informa reportedly put the US hard red winter wheat crop at 690 million bushels, down from 929.8 million in 2005.
As of 11:30 am CDT (1630 GMT), CBOT May wheat was up 9-1/4 cents at $3.61-1/2 per bushel, with July up 11-1/4 at $3.73-3/4. Funds bought about 7,000 contracts by midmorning, with Rand Financial a noted buyer of 2,000 July, CBOT traders said.