Chicago grain and soybean futures ended higher after posting fresh lows earlier as traders anticipated hefty global supplies and kept an eye on weather in the United States.
Bouts of short covering ahead of the weekend lifted contracts after corn, soy and wheat futures all struck multi-month lows this week.
Recent rains in the drought-hit US Plains and forecasts for more have eased concerns about hard red winter wheat, though doubts about the state of the crop in the No. 5 exporter remain.
In a sign more Ukrainian grain may hit the market, the European Commission said it had reached a deal in principle to allow the transit of Ukrainian grain to resume through five European Union countries that had imposed restrictions.
But the Kremlin restated its position that the outlook for the Black Sea grain deal is “not very good”.
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) gained 4-1/2 cents to settle at $6.33-3/4 a bushel. It touched $6.24-1/4 earlier in the week, the lowest since July 2021. – Reuters
