Chicago Board of Trade rice futures ended higher on Thursday as technical buying offset scale-up commercial selling, traders said.
CBOT rough rice settled up 2 to 9 cents, with March up 7-1/2 cents at $8.31-1/2 per cwt and may up 7-1/2 cents at $8.52-1/2. March set a 3-week high of $8.32 per cwt.
"We had a strong technical close yesterday, and decent short-covering via buy stops," a CBOT rice trader said.
"There're also some rumours of good mill interest." Traders continued to eye positioning before the February 27 first notice day for nearby March.
Registrations late on Tuesday totalled 728 contracts, unchanged from the previous tally. Registration of a contract does not mandate delivery.
CBOT rough rice estimated volume on Thursday was 870 contracts, compared with Wednesday's volume of 1.749 lots, while options trade was 126 contracts.