December wheat traded 12 3/4 cents higher overnight. The dollar index was sharply lower overnight.

Yesterday was a red letter day in reverse in the grains, as fears of deflation sparked a plunge in most commodity markets. Corn and soybeans finished limit down, but wheat did not, which has resulted in expanded trading limits for those markets this morning, but NOT for wheat. Prices were higher in wheat overnight in response to the lower dollar and higher crude overnight, according to traders who also said that the flow of sell orders in wheat appeared to be exhausted prior to the close yesterday. Wheat lost to corn on the day yesterday but recovered those losses in the overnight session. Traders note that planting progress is well advanced for hard red wheat on the Plains and getting well underway for soft red wheat in the Midwest. A north/south band of rain will blanket the western soft red belt today and move on to the east tomorrow, and this should temporarily slow planting progress. The weekly winter wheat planting report showed 59% complete compared to 42% last week and 54% last year. The 10 year average for this time of year is 58%. Some analysts are indicating that the recent plunge in prices may trim planted area for soft red wheat, as well as use of energy-based inputs which have remained near their highs into planting time while wheat prices have plunged.

Much of the Plains saw rain yesterday, and that system is pushing into western soft red areas today with very widespread coverage running from north to south. This pattern will shift into the eastern soft red belt tomorrow and may linger in the extreme east into Thursday. Yemen is reportedly tendering to buy 100,000 tonnes of wheat with a bidding deadline this week. Mauritius is tendering to buy 47,000 tonnes of wheat flour from any origin. Jordan is tendering to buy 100,000 tonnes of hard wheat. Bangladesh is tendering for 100,000 tonnes with a closing date of 10/10.