Wheat surges on short-covering

US wheat surged more than 2 percent on Thursday, snapping a six-session losing streak as investors covered short positions and the dollar tumbled after the European Central Bank acted to fight low inflation. Corn futures also jumped, while soyabeans shook off earlier losses to turn narrowly higher at the Chicago Board of Trade.
The higher prices came despite weekly US export sales that largely missed analysts' expectations. US wheat and corn are more expensive than other global supplies for shipments early in 2016, while top global soya importer China slowed its pace of buying slightly, US Department of Agriculture data showed. "It's an outside-market day with the dollar just tanking," said Futures International analyst Terry Reilly. "Traders are getting out of their positions from last week and early this week. With the lack of export interest in (US) wheat, there's not much else that's driving this market."
Wheat futures notched their biggest daily gains in more than a month, recovering from their worst skid since July. Most-active CBOT wheat for March delivery settled up 11-1/2 cents at $4.78-3/4 per bushel, even as prices still hovered near a 5-1/2 year low.
CBOT March corn finished 6-3/4 cents, or 1.5 percent, higher at $3.77 per bushel, the highest in nearly a month. Soyabeans for January delivery gained 5-1/4 cents to $8.97-1/2, the highest since October 26. "Corn popped to the upside after the US dollar collapsed, with a bit of chart buying to top it off," ED&F Man Capital analyst Charlie Sernatinger said in a note to clients.
The dollar fell more than 2 percent against a basket of currencies after reaching a 12-year high on Wednesday. It lost ground against the euro after the ECB's slight cut to its deposit rate was seen as disappointing to investors who expected more aggressive stimulus measures.
Weekly US soyabean sales of 878,300 tonnes were down 25 percent from the previous week and were at the low end of trade estimates ranging from 800,000 to 1.2 million tonnes, USDA data showed. Weekly wheat sales of 392,200 tonnes were up 29 percent from the previous week and 17 percent from the prior 4-week average. Corn sales stood at 499,400 tonnes, down 76 percent from the previous week.