CBOT December wheat closed up 1/2 cent at $2.97-1/2 per bushel, near its daily high of $2.98. The contract had made a new low overnight at $2.95. Deferred months closed up 2-1/4 to down 1 cent, with March and May dropping to contract lows earlier in the day.
Funds bought 500 to 1,000 lots, traders said. Open interest in the December contract was dwindling ahead of first notice day on November 30 but some firms continued to roll positions forward. ADM Investor Services spread 2,000 December/March, traders said.
Outright volume was estimated by the exchange at 45,151 futures and 5,258 options.
Oversold technical signals provided support for wheat futures. The nine-day relative strength index for December stood at 17 ahead of the open, well below the benchmark level of 30 that chartists view as one sign of an oversold market. The RSI closed at 23.
A winter storm that hit the US Plains hard red winter wheat belt was seen as bearish, providing beneficial moisture for the HRW crop as it moves into dormancy. However, most of the moisture missed dry areas of Oklahoma and Texas.
"The heaviest precipitation, which averaged 0.3 to 1 inch, locally heavier, occurred from Kansas northward through Nebraska," Meteorlogix forecaster Joel Burgio said. He said the moisture totals referred to melted precipitation.
After the markets closed, the US Department of Agriculture said 52 percent of the US winter wheat crop was rated in good to excellent condition, down from 55 percent the previous week.
Weekly export inspections data was neutral. The USDA said 18.1 million bushels of US wheat were inspected for export last week, within the range of trade estimates for 16-21 million.
The Philippine feed industry will tender for more wheat in coming weeks because the government has turned down an industry request to allow duty-free imports of corn, a Philippine feed association official said.
Cash basis bids for soft red winter wheat were steady in the US Midwest.