Wheat futures in Kansas City and Chicago closed higher, supported by short covering and news that Iraq planned to close a long-awaited deal on Wednesday to buy 1 million tonnes of US wheat.
MGE wheat followed the firm trend, with sellers staying mostly on the sidelines.
"We haven't seen a lot of fund liquidation, and we haven't seen a lot of hedge activity." one trader said.
MGE December wheat closed up 2-3/4 cents at $3.69-1/4 per bushel but stayed within the range of Monday's trade. Deferred months were up 2-3/4 to down 3 cents.
Volume was light, estimated by the exchange at 3,976 contracts, down from 4,404 on Monday.
Disappointing winter wheat ratings underpinned values. In its first wheat ratings of the season, the US Department of Agriculture late on Monday said 57 percent of the US winter wheat crop was rated in good to excellent condition. That was a notable decline from a year ago, when 76 percent of the crop was rated good to excellent.
USDA said the US winter wheat crop was 86 percent planted and 65 percent emerged, ahead of the five-year averages of 84 percent and 63 percent, respectively.
MGE wheat was also recovering from a technical breakdown on Monday, when the December contract fell to $3.65, a one-month low. The decline pushed the nine-day relative strength index for December to 36, approaching oversold conditions.
Chartists view an RSI of 30 or lower as one sign of an oversold market, while an RSI of 70 or above signals an overbought market.