Wheat futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were higher early on Thursday on fund short covering and weather concerns, traders said. At 10 am CDT (1500 GMT), CBOT wheat was up 3-3/4 to 4-3/4 cents per bushel, with December up 4-1/2 cents at $3.33-1/4.
Traders said locals and funds were the main buyers and technical buy-stops were hit on the way up. Prudential Securities was a featured buyer of the December contract, pit sources said.
Wheat traders said the presence of a large short position in CBOT wheat by funds left the market vulnerable to short-covering rallies.
Supportive fundamentals included concerns about forecasts for wet and cold weather next week in Canadian spring wheat harvest areas and dry weather in the US Great Plains hard red winter wheat region.