US corn and wheat futures rose on Thursday on chart-based buying and short-covering coupled with optimism about prospects for US agricultural export sales to China, traders said. Soyabean futures firmed but trailed the advances in grains. As of 12:53 p.m. CST (1853 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade March corn was up 4-1/2 cents at $3.83-3/4 per bushel after hitting a one-week high at $3.85.
CBOT March wheat was up 3-1/4 cents at $5.59-1/2 a bushel and March soyabeans were up 1 cent at $8.82 a bushel. Corn posted the biggest advances on a percentage basis, with the most-active March contract testing chart resistance at its 50-day moving average near $3.83-1/2.
"Yesterday (corn) was testing lows of this range we've been in, and bouncing back. I think you had some technical buyers line up this morning, and we had a lot of stops to run on these moving averages," said Ted Seifried, chief ag market strategist for Zaner Group in Chicago.
Some analysts noted optimism about Chinese demand for US agricultural products. Chinese President Xi Jinping told US President Donald Trump that China would still meet its Phase 1 trade deal purchasing targets despite delays linked to the coronavirus, White House adviser Larry Kudlow told Bloomberg Television.
Fears that the fast-spreading coronavirus would hamper demand have hung over the markets. "Soyabeans are caught between a large South American crop and China," said Ole Houe, director of advisory services at brokerage IKON Commodities in Sydney. Grain traders were also turning their attention towards next week's monthly supply and demand forecasts from the US Department of Agriculture.