Wheat futures ended the day on a positive note Thursday, with the Chicago Board of Trade May wheat contract following a rally in corn futures despite the federal government lowering the US wheat export outlook, traders said. CBOT May soft red winter wheat futures ended the day up 2 cents, a 0.4 percent increase, at $4.99-1/4 per bushel - halting a string of contract losses over the past three sessions. K.C. May hard red winter wheat closed down 1 cent, to $5.33-1/4.
MGEX May spring wheat ended the day up 4-3/4 cents, at $6.24-3/4 per bushel. The latest weekly US Drought Monitor map showed 44 percent of Kansas, the top US wheat-growing state, was in severe drought, up from 34 percent a week earlier. In Oklahoma, 69 percent of the state was abnormally dry, a drop from 92 percent the previous week. But 5 percent of the state was rated in exceptional drought, the most severe category, up from zero the previous week.