Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures climbed 0.9 percent on Friday and set a new four-year high on spillover support from rallying corn and soyabeans, which hit all-time highs amid concerns about drought-reduced crops. Spot wheat hit a high of $9.44-3/4 a bushel, the highest for a front-month contract since June 2008, after gaining 12 percent this week.
Spot corn and soyabean contracts both hit all-time highs on Friday amid a worsening US drought and forecasts for more heat and dryness. Commodity funds bought an estimated net 5,000 wheat contracts on Friday, trade sources said. World markets are not yet facing a crisis of the kind seen in 2007/08 when high food prices sparked riots in some poorer countries, but soaring prices fuelled by a US drought are a cause for concern, the UN's food agency said. Toepfer International raised its forecast for Germany's 2012 wheat crop to 23.18 million tonnes from the 22.71 million tonnes it estimated in June. September was above all key moving averages. The nine-day RSI was at 88.