Wheat, corn extend winning streak

US wheat and corn futures rose for the fifth straight day on Tuesday, with short-covering and technical buying in focus as investors scrambled to stake out positions ahead of a key government report, traders said. Soyabeans closed lower, pressured by profit-taking after posting early gains and some commercial hedging as farmers booked sales when prices hit their peaks.
Chicago Board of Trade soft red winter wheat posted the biggest gains, surging 3 percent on a wave of follow-through buying from a firm close on Monday. "Wheat, technically, had a nice close yesterday," said Ted Seifried, vice president and chief market strategist at Zaner Ag Hedge in Chicago. "We ended up closing above the 20-day moving average for the first time since August 29."
Chicago Board of Trade wheat for December delivery was up 14-3/4 cents at $5.06-1/4 a bushel. The front-month contract has risen 6.1 percent during the five-session rally, its longest since July. "The wheat market is trading higher as the technical picture remains friendly along with good demand and strong cash markets," INTL FCStone said in a research note to clients. "The entire complex is trying to carve out a rounding bottom at current levels as technicals have given a buy signal."
The strength in wheat lent support to corn, which has risen 6.5 percent during its streak of positive closes. CBOT December corn was 8 cents higher at $3.40-1/2 a bushel. CBOT November soyabeans settled 1-1/2 cents lower at $9.40-3/4 a bushel. "Beans rallied again early in the session off of a weaker dollar and more chart short covering, but fell back late in the day, victim of harvest hedge selling on the rally," Charlie Sernatinger, analyst with ED&F Man Capital, said in a note to clients.
The US Department of Agriculture said on Monday afternoon that 20 percent of the soyabean crop had been harvested as of October 5, up from the 10 percent completed last week but 15 percentage points behind the five-year average. Analysts had expected the crop to be 23 percent complete. The agency pegged the corn harvest at 17 percent complete, up from 12 percent the week before, but still lower than market expectations of 20 percent.