Wheat futures at the Chicago Board of Trade were higher early on Tuesday on a short-covering bounce after recent declines, including a break last week that pushed values into oversold territory, traders said.

As of 10:45 a.m. CST (1645 GMT), CBOT December wheat was up 2-1/4 cents at $3.19-1/4 per bushel, with deferred months up 1 to 2-1/4 cents.

Fimat Futures and Tenco Inc. were early buyers of 100 to 200 December contracts apiece, traders said.

Signs the wheat market was oversold and due for a rebound included the nine-day relative strength index for December, which stood at 29 after Monday's close.

Copyright Reuters, 2005