Chicago Board of Trade soft red winter wheat futures rose 2.8 percent on Wednesday, closing near session highs as technical buyers stepped into the market after prices rallied through key resistance points. The wheat market initially rose on worsening crop conditions in key US growing areas.
A weak dollar supported prices throughout the session. Crop ratings fell in December in parts of the US Plains that endured a cold and dry month, including major hard red wheat growing states Oklahoma and Kansas, according to data released by the US Department of Agriculture after Tuesday's market close. K.C. hard red winter wheat futures, which track the crop grown in the Plains, posted the biggest gains. The benchmark K.C. March HRW contract rose 2.9 percent.