Wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade were higher at midsession on Wednesday, buoyed by short-covering ahead of Thursday's USDA crop reports and talk of export interest from India, traders said.

As of 11:30 am CST (1730 GMT), CBOT December wheat was up 3-1/2 cents at $3.16-1/2 per bushel. Deferred months were up 3 to 3-1/2 cents. Trade was thin. Man Financial was a featured buyer of 800 December contracts, traders said.

There was talk that the Indian government is likely to allow wheat imports. Indian wheat futures slipped on Wednesday on market talk the Indian government might import wheat in December or January.

Copyright Reuters, 2005