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CBOT rice ends higher on late local buying

CHICAGO: Rough rice futures at the Chicago Board of Trade closed higher on Friday on scattered speculative buying early and on a spate of late local buying, traders said.

CBOT rice closed 6-1/2 to 9 cents per cwt higher, with May up 6-1/2 at $5.72-1/2.

"It was pretty light but there was some spec buying after the first hour and a local bought it near the close," a trader said.

Traders said the mild rise in rice futures, which came on the heels of a bearish tone Thursday, was primarily short covering.

"It's hard to get bullish when there's so much rice in the world," a trader said.

ADM Investor Services and E.D. & F. Man International were small-lot purchasers of the May contract, the traders said.

Rice futures volume was estimated by the CBOT at 550 lots, above the 483 lots traded Thursday.-Reuters