CHICAGO: US wheat futures rose more than 2 percent on Monday on a mix of technical buying after last week's seven-week low and fundamental support from tightening supplies in Australia and Russia, analysts said.
Soybean futures also advanced while corn futures were little changed ahead of key crop reports due Wednesday from the US Department of Agriculture.
As of 1:04 p.m. CDT (1804 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade December wheat futures were up 12 cents at $5.23-1/4 per bushel. November soybeans were up 2-1/2 cents at $8.46-1/2 a bushel and December corn was steady at $3.67 a bushel.
CBOT wheat bounced after a four-session slide last week pressed the December contract to $5.07-1/2, its lowest since July 19.
"After wheat made pretty good lows last week, some (of Monday's support) is a technical rebound," said Terry Reilly, analyst with Futures International in Chicago.
Additional strength stemmed from news that the Australian Bureau of Agriculture, Resource Economics and Rural Sciences (ABARES) lowered its forecast of the country's 2018/19 wheat crop to 19.1 million tonnes, from 21.9 million in June. The figure is below the USDA's latest Australian wheat forecast of 19.5 million tonnes.
Meanwhile, dry conditions persisted in Russia's southwestern Volga Valley, potentially stressing winter wheat germination, Radiant Solutions said in a daily note.
"Timely rains are needed after they pull the summer crops out of the ground, and follow up with (planting) winter wheat and other winter crops," Reilly said.
News of a barley purchase by Saudi Arabia, which booked 1.5 million tonnes in a tender, may also suggest that the importer expects rising prices and tightening grain supplies, traders said.
However, US wheat exports have been moderate.
"US wheat exports are still struggling. We are not seeing higher demand for US wheat," said Phin Ziebell, an agribusiness economist with National Australia Bank.
Soybeans firmed despite softening cash values at the US Gulf and expectations that the USDA will raise its estimate of the US crop in a monthly report due Wednesday.
Some analysts cited a jump in soybean futures on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange after cold weather in the country's northeast raised concerns about damage to crops.
China imported 9.15 million tonnes of soybeans in August, up 14 percent from July, customs data showed on Saturday.
CBOT corn futures were little changed and the December contract stayed inside of Friday's trading range as the market awaited updated yield and production estimates from USDA on Wednesday.
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