Chicago Board of Trade rough rice futures closed slightly higher on Monday on light speculative buying, brokers said.
CBOT rice futures closed up 4-1/2 to 7 cents per hundredweight, with January up 5-1/2 cents at $8.75-1/2 and March up 4-1/2 cents at $8.93 per cwt.
"Early buying was muted because of the weakness in other (CBOT) markets," one CBOT broker said.
Neighboring CBOT nearby March wheat ended down 7-1/4 cents on Monday on a profit-taking setback after Friday's strong gains, while corn futures settled mixed.
"There were also light commercial sales above the $8.90 level in the March rice contract," the rice broker noted.
There were 50 deliveries posted against CBOT January rice on Monday, with a customer of Refco Inc stopping 35 lots.
CBOT rough rice futures volume on Monday was estimated at 635 futures, compared with 994 lots on Friday. Options trade totalled 27 contracts.