Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures rose about 1 percent on Monday in a recovery bounce after falling to a seven-week low, but trade was cautious after weekend rains on the parched US Plains offered respite for the winter wheat crop. Soyabeans firmed on bargain-buying after Monday's losses while corn was narrowly mixed in choppy trade.
As of 12:33 pm CDT (1733 GMT), CBOT May wheat was up 5-3/4 cents at $4.56-1/2 a bushel after dipping to $4.50, its lowest since January 26. K.C. May hard red winter wheat was up 1-3/4 cents at $4.72. CBOT May soyabeans were up 6-1/2 cents at $10.29 a bushel and May corn was unchanged at $3.75 a bushel.
"Everything is finding technical support today. In absence of that aggressive selling that we were seeing yesterday, we are starting to drift back up a bit," said Ted Seifried, analyst with Zaner Ag Hedge. K.C. wheat futures trailed the gains in CBOT wheat
as some forecast models called for another round of moisture in the drought-hit southern Plains, where the hard red winter wheat crop is exiting dormancy and resuming spring growth. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) late Monday rated 11 percent of the winter wheat top producer Kansas in good-to-excellent condition, down from 12 percent a week earlier. Wheat ratings also declined in Texas.
However, those ratings likely did not reflect the impact of Monday's precipitation. CBOT soyabean futures were supported by technical buying and short-covering a day after Monday's 2.6 percent slide in the May contract. Expectations of more rain in Argentina on drought-damaged soyabean crops pressured markets on Monday, along with funds paring big net long positions in soya and corn.
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