--Wheat for December delivery rose 2.4% to $5.25 1/2 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade Thursday, with traders optimistic that with increased Chinese soybean purchases higher wheat purchases will come.

--Corn for December delivery rose 0.8% to $3.94 3/4 a bushel.

--Soybeans for November delivery rose 0.4% to $9.31 1/2 a bushel.

HIGHLIGHTS

Gauging China's Intent: China intends to increase its purchases of U.S. agricultural goods, a story from the South China Morning Post said Thursday, quoting a spokesman from China's Ministry of Commerce. However, the agreement is tentative and unfinished, as Chinese officials want the U.S. to cancel more of the tariffs imposed during the trade war. Soybeans are expected to see more Chinese purchases, but wheat exports are also expected to see a boost.

Dollar Weakness: The dollar traded lower again Thursday, providing support for agricultural futures trading. Wheat got the most benefit out of the weaker dollar due to the tough competition from Russian and European products, leading December wheat higher for grains. It's the third trading session in a row that the dollar has declined, and the fifth out of the last six. Wheat futures, meanwhile, are up 13.5% since the start of September--the strongest rally among grains during that time frame.

INSIGHT

Data Do-Over: November's WASDE report will include a resurvey of harvested acres of corn and soybeans in Minnesota and North Dakota following a snowstorm that hit last weekend, the USDA said. "The USDA resurvey is likely to lower harvested acres on the November report," said Doug Bergman of RCM Alternatives. The Nov. 8 report may also show bigger cuts to production and yields as a result of the further delays to the harvest, with some crops damaged by the chill. Last weekend, areas of the northern plains received anywhere from a foot to 2.5 feet of snow.

Ethanol Stockpile : U.S. inventories of ethanol appear to be rebuilding after declining sharply last week--with inventory up 837,000 barrels to 22.061 million barrels, according to the EIA. In the previous week, stocks had dropped by 1.995 million barrels, the largest decline ever recorded by the EIA. Meanwhile, daily production has increased slightly as well this week, totaling 971,000 barrels per day, or 8,000 more than last week. Corn futures didn't react much to the report, although traders thought stocks may continue to fall.

Beyond Meat Feeling Heat: Beyond Meat shares are down 4.7% as investors mull the impact of dining and entertainment chain Dave & Buster's announcement that its 130 locations will swap out its Impossible Foods plant-based burgers for rival versions produced by Lightlife, a smaller subsidiary of Canadian meat giant Maple Leaf Foods. Beyond and Impossible have been the main players of the revolutionized veggie burger market, but meat giants like Maple Leaf, Tyson Foods and JBS have rapidly followed, heightening competition in the fast-growing sector.

AHEAD:

--The USDA will release its latest weekly export sales numbers at 8:30 a.m. EDT Friday.

--The CFTC will release its weekly commitment of traders data at 3:30 p.m. EDT on Friday.

--The USDA will its weekly grain export inspections data at 11 a.m. EDT Monday.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 17, 2019 15:51 ET (19:51 GMT)

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