Soft red winter wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade soared 2 percent early on Friday as global wheat stocks continue shrink and the demand for wheat remains strong, traders said.
"There's a general sentiment that next week we're going to see a tighter balance sheet, both on the US and the world. Right now, nobody wants to sell into this thing," said Shawn McCambridge, an analyst for Prudential Financial.
The market had support from trade expectations for a drop in US 2007/08 wheat ending stocks when the US Department of Agriculture issues its December supply/demand report early Tuesday.
The average estimate for wheat ending stocks among analysts surveyed by Reuters was 297 million bushels, down from USDA's November figure of 312 million. At 10:19 am CST (1619 GMT), CBOT wheat was up 7 to 20-1/2 cents per bushel, with December up 17-3/4 at $8.88-3/4 per bushel.
The market rallied on Thursday after Statistics Canada cut its estimate of the Canadian all-wheat crop. That factor also helped propel the spot spring wheat contract at the Minneapolis Grain Exchange above $10 a bushel.
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