US wheat futures rose to their highest in nearly eight months on Thursday, with strong government export data keying a recovery from weakness in the overnight trading session. Corn futures were modestly lower, easing in consolidation trade after also hitting their highest since last summer, while soyabeans fell on pressure from the advancing South American harvest.
The most active Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures contract peaked at $4.64-1/4 a bushel, its highest since June 28.
The US Agriculture Department on Thursday morning reported export sales of US old-crop wheat in the latest week at 569,100 tonnes, above trade expectations for 300,000 to 500,000 tonnes.
The export sales figure provided a reason for investment funds to step into the wheat market after building up strong long positions in other agricultural products in recent weeks.
World wheat stocks are forecast to reach a record high in 2016/17, but lower quality this season in several production zones has limited the availability of milling-grade wheat.
A weakening dollar, which makes US exports more competitive on the export market, lent support to wheat. Wheat is typically the agriculture commodity most sensitive to currency swings.
At 10:49 a.m. CST (1649 GMT), CBOT March wheat was up 5 cents at $4.59-3/4 a bushel. CBOT March corn was down 1-3/4 cents at $3.77 a bushel, with some mild profit taking pressuring prices.
CBOT March soyabeans dropped 4-1/2 cents to $10.56-3/4 a bushel.
Declines in soyabeans were kept in check by signs that export demand remained robust despite the South American harvest. A soya dealer on the cash market said Brazil farmers were getting a slow start on selling their early harvested soyabeans, which kept overseas buyers trained on US offerings.
USDA said weekly export sales of US old-crop soyabeans came in at 890,000 tonnes and new-crop soyabean sales at 207,400 tonnes, both above expectations.