By Kirk Maltais


--Wheat for May delivery rose 0.8% to $5.74 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade Thursday, with fund traders again covering short positions as global risk factors mount ahead of the weekend.

--Corn for May delivery rose 0.4% to $4.43 3/4 a bushel.

--Soybeans for May delivery fell 0.2% to $11.63 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Back in the Saddle: Traders of wheat futures seemingly ran out of gas Wednesday for their spree of short-covering, but went right back to it in Thursday's trading. The movement higher doesn't appear supported by fundamentals, said Charlie Sernatinger of Marex in a note. "We are still looking for that elusive fundamental reason why wheat is hanging in around its highs after a 49-cent rally since the beginning of the calendar year," says Sernatinger.

Summit Squabble: A story from the South China Morning Post said the potential summit between President Trump and Chinese president Xi is experiencing issues, which the story attributes to "planning gaps and weak coordination on the U.S. side." The story was a pressure point for soybeans Thursday, as well as livestock futures, due to the export demand from those products coming from China.


INSIGHT


Always in the Background: Analysts are keeping a close eye on how the Brazilian harvest is progressing, and preparing for the surge of Brazilian soybeans hitting the global export market. The record amount of soybeans expected from Brazil may create a short-term ceiling for prices. "It would be unusual for the biggest soybean harvest the world has ever seen (Brazil) to not slow down price gains in the beans at some point," said Doug Bergman of RCM Alternatives in a note.

Missing the Mark: Export sales of U.S. corn fell below the expectations of analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal this week. The USDA said Thursday that corn export sales across the 2025/26 and 2026/27 marketing years totaled 697,500 metric tons for the week ended Feb. 19. Analysts had forecast sales to land between 900,000 tons and 1.8 million tons. Soybean and wheat sales landed on the low end of analyst expectations for the week.

New Sale: The USDA said this morning that 178,000 metric tons of corn were sold to Japan, with 154,000 tons for delivery during the 2026/2027 marketing year and an additional 24,000 tons for 2027/28 delivery. While the market welcomes flash sales, Thursday's notice isn't the one many traders were hoping to see - that would be a sale of soybeans to China, which was rumored among market participants this week.


AHEAD


--The USDA will release its monthly Agricultural Prices report at 3 p.m. ET Friday.

--The CFTC will release its weekly Commitment of Traders report at 3:30 p.m. ET Friday.

--The USDA will release its weekly Grain Export Inspections report at 11 a.m. ET Monday.

--The USDA will release its monthly Grain Crushings report at 3 p.m. ET Monday.


Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-26-26 1525ET