20000129CBOT rice ends at 7-week high amid follow through

CHICAGO: Rough rice futures at the Chicago Board of Trade climbed to the highest levels in over seven weeks on Thursday as stronger technicals and signs of improved export demand continued to propel prices higher, traders said.

CBOT rice settled 4 to 6 cents per hundredweight (cwt) higher, with March up 6 at $5.84, the contract's highest close since the same settlement on Dec. 7. March rose as high as $5.87.

Gains Thursday were largely due to technical follow through from advances Wednesday, traders said.

"Technicals have really looked good the past few days," one CBOT trader said.

Rice futures were also lifted by indications of a recent pickup in export overseas demand for U.S. rice.

In the trading pit, ADM Investor Services (ADMIS) and Rosenthal Collins were light buyers, but ADMIS took some profits around the highs of the day, traders said. E.D. & F. Man International also sold near the highs.

World cash prices were mostly stable. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's latest weekly world report listed long grain whole kernel rice at 7.42 cents per lb, unchanged from the previous week.

Rice futures volume in Thursday's pit session was estimated by the CBOT at 850 contracts, compared with 974 Wednesday.-Reuters