Chicago wheat futures rose on Friday amid hopes for a resolution of the euro-zone debt crisis but remained under pressure from US government forecasts of higher global and US supply, which sparked heavy losses earlier this week. Soyabean futures rose for a fifth straight day to reach their highest level in more than two weeks as rising oil and equity prices added to support from tightening soya supply.
Corn futures edged higher. Perceived progress in tackling debt woes in the euro zone, coupled with positive sentiment regarding corporate earnings, fed broad gains in commodities and equities. Strength in the euro weighed on the dollar, giving extra support to commodities priced in the US currency.
But operators said the economic outlook remained uncertain and that wheat was yet to shake off this week's bearish projections from the US Department of Agriculture. "We are still bearish on wheat as there is a lot of competition in the market, and I don't see any fresh news, which can trigger a surge in prices," said Lynette Tan, a grains analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.
Chicago Board of Trade December wheat gained 1.01 percent to $6.24-1/4 a bushel by 1158 GMT. "Equity markets are doing better, but there's no euphoria," a European trader said. "The USDA report was awful for wheat. If you wanted to have a bearish market you couldn't do it any better than that."
In its monthly supply and demand estimates, the USDA put US wheat ending stocks 14 percent above the trade consensus while raising the world stockpile to a 10-year high. In contrast, the USDA put US soyabean stocks 12 percent below consensus, helping fuel a rally that was also driven by firm cash markets and expectations of a rebound in Chinese imports on positive crush margins. November soyabeans rose 0.68 percent to $12.65-1/2 a bushel by 1158 GMT, coming off a slight earlier fall.
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