TOP STORIES:

Wheat Rises on Diminished Harvest

Wheat for September delivery rose 4.3% to $5.16 1/2 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade Wednesday, as managed money investors piled into wheat in reaction to reports of slower-than-expected harvests by competitors on the export market. Corn for December delivery rose 0.5% to $3.54 1/4 a bushel. Soybeans for November delivery fell 0.6% to $8.97 1/4 a bushel.

Wheat futures perked up Wednesday thanks to a wave of interest from managed money investors after projections of lower wheat harvests worldwide. "Traders are fundamentally focused on declining production estimates in the United States, Argentina, France and the Black Sea Region," said Arlan Suderman of StoneX. "That's pushed global prices higher in recent days, turning chart signals that sparked computer momentum signals that accelerated gains today."

Simply Good Beats 3Q Sales Expectations But Pandemic Rules Hamper Some Products

Simply Good Foods Co. beat sales expectations for its fiscal third quarter even though the seller of food and snack items said the Covid-19 pandemic hampered demand for some products as government officials imposed rules meant to halt the spread of the coronavirus and consumers stayed home.

Simply Good Wednesday said it generated $215.1 million in sales for its quarter that ended May 30. That is up from $139.5 million for the same quarter a year ago, but comparisons are affected by the company's acquisition of protein-products company Quest Nutrition, a deal it completed last November.

STORIES OF INTEREST:

Combined Uber Eats and Postmates To Rank No. 2 in US Market Share -- Market Talk

07:53 ET - Uber Eats and Postmates would occupy 31% of the US food-delivery market share after they combine, ranking second after DoorDash, according to Wedbush estimates. Uber this week agreed to buy Postmates for $2.65B in stock. "This combination makes a lot more sense than a European provider coming in and acquiring Grubhub as it accomplishes the things that consolidation is supposed to," Wedbush says. Postmates has strong presence in Los Angeles, San Diego and Phoenix, cities where Uber is behind, Wedbush notes. (dave.sebastian@wsj.com; @depsebastian)

China Remains Absent From Soybean Buying -- Market Talk

14:41 ET - The USDA again did not announce any new large sales of US soybean exports to China on Wednesday--which contributed to pressure on US soybean futures. "Beans caught some liquidation of bean/corn spreads with a lack of hard news out, and little new Chinese interest," says Charlie Sernatinger of ED&F Man Capital. "The Chinese were said to have bought a cargo of beans out of Argentina for August, and a new crop cargo out of Brazil...but little from the U.S." Soybean futures closed trading Wednesday down 0.6%. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

Ethanol Inventory Shrinkage Streak Snaps -- Market Talk

11:08 ET - After declining for the past 10 weeks, US ethanol inventories rose 456,000 barrels in the past week, settling at 20.6M barrels, according to the EIA. Last week, ethanol inventories fell to their lowest level since January 2017. Meanwhile, daily ethanol production is still growing in the US after the coronavirus crisis forced many plants to shutter in the spring, with daily production increasing 14,000 barrels to 914,000 barrels a day, their highest level since late March. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com, @kirkmaltais)

THE MARKETS:

Livestock Futures Decline Extends -- Market Talk

15:52 ET - Livestock futures on the CME close lower again, with August lean-hog futures down 1.9% and live-cattle futures finishing down 0.9%. Hog futures are now down 32% since peaking in early May, with demand still weak as the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic is unstable. "Cash hog markets have been steady-weak over these past three weeks and despite the lower carcass weight data since mid-May, there's no disagreement that hog supplies are anything but burdensome as we work through April-May missed kills," StoneX says. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)