Wheat rises 2% past $5 on disruptive US weather

Wheat futures rose over two percent in American trade to March 2 highs even as the dollar index gained ground, following earlier data from the US, the world's second largest wheat exporter, while traders price in cold, dry, and unusual US weather that impacted red winter wheat product. 

As of 07:58 GMT, wheat futures due on July 15 rose 2.41% to $5.1050 from the opening of $4.9850, while the dollar index rose 0.31% to 91.83 from the opening of 91.54. 

Earlier US data showed personal spending accelerated to 0.4% as expected from zero in February, while personal income steadied at 0.3%, missing forecasts of 0.4%.

Core personal spending rose 0.2% in line with expectations, same as the previous reading, while on a yearly basis, spending accelerated to 1.9% as expected from 1.6%. 

Chicago PMI rose to 57.6 in April from 57.4 in March, missing expectations of 58.2, while US pending home sales slowed down to 0.4% in March from 2.8%, revised from 3.1% in February, missing expectations of 0.6%, while on a yearly basis, sales fell 4.4%, compared to a 4.7% drop in the previous reading. 

The US Department of Agriculture reported wheat sales rose to 297.2 thousand tonnes in the week ending April 19, above the previous week and the same period of 2017, while analysts expected less than 200 thousand tonnes.