Rain Buoys Wheat Prices

Rainy weather buoyed wheat futures trading Tuesday, but the dampness helped sink corn and soybean prices in light volume on the Chicago Board of Trade, traders said.

Early in the day, new lows were reached for corn contracts for delivery in September, December and March, and for all soybean contracts except July’s.

“But later there was talk of dry weather next week and that supported prices for the new crop months in corn and soybeans,” said Victor Lespinasse, grains analyst in Chicago for Dean Witter Reynolds.

The weather was a major factor influencing trading, said Susan Hackmann, grains analyst in Chicago with Pershing Futures.

Rains forecast for most of the Midwest this week should make growing conditions ideal for corn and soybeans, thus depressing futures prices, while the wet conditions are slowing the winter wheat harvest in the Southwest, supporting higher prices in that commodity, she said.