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No rain means wheat gains
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September 15, 1998: 4:50 p.m. ET
Grain gets a lift from dry weather outlook, as planting season begins
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Dry weather across the Great Plains lifted wheat prices to new three-week highs Tuesday, as concerns mounted about the current planting season.
The Chicago Board of Trade red-winter wheat futures contract for delivery in December settled at $2.68 a bushel, up 5 cents, its highest settle price since Aug. 24.
Also pushing prices higher, analysts said, was the perennial election-year talk of new U.S government buying. The government already plans to buy 2.5 million tons.
More importantly however is that dry weather may impede progress on this year's planting. The sowing comes just as this year's harvests are about to take place.
"It's becoming a more important factor [behind wheat prices] because we are in that time when planting should take place," said Dale Gustafson, a grains and oilseeds analyst with Salomon Smith Barney in Chicago.
"We need some moisture for the germination. It's been dry and there has been little sign of rain," Gustafson added.
While the harvest of wheat planted now won't be harvested until next year, a poor planting could force buyers to hold stocks longer - at a time carrying costs are high.
Copper gains
Copper prices drifted higher buoyed by technical buying and a gradual tightening of the depressed base metal.
The Comex copper futures contract for December delivery settled at 77.10 cents a pound, up 1.35 cents.
"Near term the market is pretty tight," said Joe Rosta, metals analyst with CPM Group in New York, adding that demand is strong in the United States and Europe and it isn't so bad in China.
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