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Chicago agricultural commodities close higher on short-covering, rainy weather

Xinhua, September 17, 2016 Adjust font size:

Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) grains futures close higher Friday, buoyed by investor short covering and concerns over U.S. harvest delays.

The most active corn contract for December delivery rose 7 cents, or 2.12 percent, to 3.37 dollars per bushel. December wheat delivery rose 3.75 cents, or 0.94 percent, to 4.0325 dollars per bushel. November soybeans added 15.5 cents, or 1.63 percent, to 9.66 dollars per bushel.

Soybean prices led the gains, rising after heavy rains doused the western Midwest overnight, with wet weather moving eastward and threatening to slow harvest progress in coming weeks.

Forecasts call for scattered showers to continue in the Farm Belt for the next 6 to 10 days, which could prevent some growers from running harvesting combines through fields to collect their crops.

A sharp rally in futures prices for sugar on Friday also boosted soybean markets, an analyst said, as did short covering by investors who were closing out of bearish bets on the soybean market amid uncertainty over U.S. harvest progress.

The U.S. corn harvest was 5 percent complete by Sunday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said, slightly behind the five-year average of 7 percent.

Some short-covering ahead of the weekend added support to corn, soybeans and wheat.

Data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed funds held large net short positions in CBOT corn and wheat as of Sept. 6, leaving those markets vulnerable to bouts of short-covering. The CFTC is expected to release updated commitments data later on Friday.

For the week, corn and soybean futures fell 1.4 percent, with the U.S. government's forecasts for record harvests this fall casting a bearish tone over the market.

Wheat prices advanced, supported by gains in nearby corn and soybean markets as well as short-covering by investors.

Prices for the grain have recently been trading near 10-year lows due to ample domestic and world supplies, and some investors likely determined that prices have dropped low enough for now. Endit