Wheat rises on short-covering, US planting worries

NEW YORK: US wheat futures gained on Monday, lifted by short-covering and technical buying, as well as concerns about North American production as weather in the Midwest threatened to delay planting.

Corn prices also rose, extending gains into a fourth session, while soybean futures firmed.

The May wheat futures contract on the Chicago Board of Trade closed 3-1/2 cents higher at $4.69-1/2 per bushel.

CBOT May Corn gained 1-1/2 cents to $3.79-3/4 per bushel. It earlier hit $3.80-3/4 a bushel, matching a one-month high set on Friday.

CBOT May soybeans rose 2-3/4 cents to $9.06-1/2 a bushel.

"It's a macro day," said Terry Reilly, senior commodity analyst at Futures International. "Some traders are just thinking the grain markets are oversold."

Raising concerns about wheat production, a blanket of heavy, wet snow is covering most of North Dakota, the top US wheat state, which could mean a delay in planting of spring wheat.

The Farm Belt is still reeling from a "bomb cyclone" storm that unleashed floods last week.

"The flooding we saw last week is spilling over into today's market," Reilly said. "It reduces the total amount of prospected harvesting area."

On Monday, the US Department of Agriculture reported export inspections of US wheat in the latest week at 340,398 tonnes. Export inspections of corn totaled 995,997 tonnes, while inspections of soybeans were 857,970 tonnes.

Corn futures received some support from hopes for additional Chinese purchases after the USDA announced corn sales totaling 300,000 tonnes to China on Friday, Beijing's largest US corn purchase in more than five years.

The orders came following weeks of rumors that Beijing was poised to make a goodwill purchase of the grain amid ongoing US-China trade talks.

A farmer survey by crop advisory firm Farm Futures on Friday said US growers will plant 1.9 percent more corn acres this year and 3.7 percent fewer soybean acres.

Meanwhile, traders remained focused on US-China trade negotiations as US officials prepared to travel to Beijing this week to accelerate talks, buoying soybean prices ahead of the discussions.