Outside markets help ag futures

Market Line April 3, 2009 Wheat futures had strong gains Thursday. A lower dollar, higher crude oil and a stock market rally helped the grains. Louise Gartner for the Linn Group at the Chicago Board of Trade says funds wanted to buy. Gartner: "This wheat complex getting a big updraft. Never really made an effort to back off during the session. Again getting a bump on the close. We closed at the high of the range and the high of the day's trading range and also very close to the spring high we saw just a couple of weeks ago. So we are quickly up against major resistance. If we can take that out we'll probably get another 30 to 40 cents easily on the upside." Weekly export sales came in as expected. Meanwhile, Iraq purchased 100-thousand tons of wheat from Australia and another 50-thousand from Russia. On Thursday Chicago May wheat was up 25 cents at 5-50 ½. May corn up 6 ½ at 4-02 ½. Portland soft white wheat any protein and maximum 10.5 percent protein was steady to a nickel higher at mostly 5-55. August new crop unchanged to up 24 cents at 5-30 to 5-61. Club wheat mostly 7-30. HRW 11.5 % protein 26 to 31 cents higher at 6-40. DNS 14% protein 12 to 15 cents higher at 8-19. No Portland barley bids. Thursday's bullishness on Wall Street helped cattle futures reach triple digit gains. Some traders are also anticipating a pick up seasonally in beef demand. June live cattle up 162 at $83. May feeders up 170 at 95-65. May Class III milk down 17 cents at 11-40. I'm Bob Hoff and that's Market Line on the Northwest Ag Information Network. Now this.