Grain prices rise on hope for export deals
Grain and bean futures end higher as investors hope for more export deals; most metals rise
Prices for wheat, corn and soybean futures ended higher as investors hoped that U.S. exports will pick up.
In March contracts, wheat rose 12.25 cents to settle at $7.67 a bushel Monday. Corn rose 15.25 cents to $7.24 a bushel and soybeans rose 44.75 cents to $14.18 a bushel.
Darin Newsom, senior commodities analyst at DTN, an Omaha, Neb.-based market information company, said commercial buyers were coming back into the market over the last two days after the Department of Agriculture released its final crop report of 2012 on Friday.
With the information now in the marketplace, buyers felt emboldened to come back in, Newsom said. He also said investors were hopeful that China would step in to purchase more U.S. grains and beans.
"The type of buying we're seeing suggests that more export sales are being done," Newsom said.
In metals trading:
— Gold for February delivery rose $8.80 to $1,669.40
— Silver for March delivery rose 70.20 cents to $31.110.
— Platinum for April rose $27 to $1,658.20.
— Copper for March delivery fell 2 cents to $3.6340 a pound.
— Palladium for March rose $1.85 to $703.30 an ounce.
In energy trading, benchmark oil rose 58 cents to finish at $94.14 a barrel in New York. Other prices were mixed:
— Wholesale gasoline rose 1.46 cents to finish at $2.7541 a gallon.
— Heating oil rose 5.4 cents to end at $3.0625 a gallon.
— Natural gas rose 4.6 cents to finish at $3.3730 per 1,000 cubic feet.
