Hard red winter wheat futures on the Kansas City Board of Trade ended 3 percent higher Friday, rallying along with other commodity and financial markets. KCBT December wheat climbed as high as $7.59-1/2 before ending up 22-1/4 cents or 3 percent at $7.56-1/2 per bushel. March ended up 21-3/4 cents at $7.75-1/2.
Grains rose along with financial stocks after the government announced an intervention plan aimed at shoring up shaky US financial institutions eased worries. Technical factors also played a role after the benchmark December contract closed Thursday in oversold chart territory.
In world wheat news, Hungary's wheat crop totalled 5.65 million tonnes this year, up 42 percent from last year's 3.99 million tonnes, the Central Statistics Office (KSH) said on Friday. Australian wheat needs rain in the next few weeks to prevent declines in yield potential. And drought continued to affect Argentina's 2008/09 wheat crop, with some areas in critical condition.