End-of-Year Position Squaring Drives Wheat Rally

Wheat futures rose sharply on Wednesday on short-covering ahead of the long holiday weekend. The rally left the benchmark Chicago contract (March contract +22 1/4 cents per bushel) at a life-of-contract high, while the benchmark Kansas City contract rose (March contract +16 1/4 cents) to its highest price for 2020 but settled about 30 cents below its life-of-contract high. In the Minneapolis benchmark contract, gains (March contract +15 3/4 cents) left it at its highest price since January and about 20 cents below its life-of-contract high. All three contracts settled at or above their upper Bollinger bands, suggesting the potential for short-term weakness.

Corn futures rose for the 13^th consecutive day, with the benchmark contract gaining nearly two percent (March contract +8 1/2 cents per bushel). News that…