Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures rallied on Tuesday on technical buying and on concern that dry weather in the US Plains wheat belt and other wheat areas around the world could curb grain production, traders said. Late-session profit taking curbed gains.
CBOT July soft red winter wheat ended up 14-1/4 cents at $5.21-1/2 a bushel, after earlier hitting a 2-1/2 week high. The contract held chart support at all key moving averages. K.C. hard red winter wheat and Minneapolis spring wheat markets also closed higher.
The US Department of Agriculture rated just 36 percent of the US winter wheat crop in good-to-excellent shape, well below average and below the average analyst estimate. The market was also lifted by dry weather in other key production areas, including Canada, eastern Australia and southern Russia.