Wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade jumped more than 1 percent on Thursday on fund short-covering as well as on news that India would halt its import tax on the grain, traders said. Traders also squared positions ahead of the US Department of Agriculture's monthly supply/demand report on Friday. Analysts surveyed by Reuters on average expected the government to slightly trim its forecast of US 2016-17 wheat ending stocks.
CBOT March wheat settled up 7-1/4 cents at $4.08-1/4 per bushel, the contract's first gain in three sessions. K.C. hard red winter wheat March futures ended up 4-3/4 cents at $4.04-3/4 a bushel. MGEX March spring wheat closed up 2 cents at $5.31 a bushel.
Solid export sales underpinned wheat. The USDA reported sales of US 2016-17 wheat last week at 503,000 tonnes, above a range of trade expectations for 300,000 to 500,000 tonnes. India scrapped its 10 percent import duty on wheat after droughts in the past two years depleted stocks. Traders in Mumbai said India could import as much as 5 million tonnes of wheat this fiscal year ending March 31, the most since 2006-07.
Saudi Arabia's main grain importing body, the Saudi Grains Organization, said it was seeking 715,000 tonnes of hard wheat in a tender. The CBOT reported 35 deliveries of CBOT December wheat, with the Term house account stopping all, and 33 deliveries of K.C. December hard red winter wheat.
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