CHICAGO: Wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade closed slightly higher on Friday on technical buying and short covering.

Friday was the first day of the five-session “Goldman roll,” in which the S&P GSCI fund rolls long positions in May grain contracts forward.

CBOT May wheat futures settled up 3/4 cent at $4.24 per bushel.

K.C. May HRW wheat rose 1-3/4 cents to $4.21-3/4 a bushel while MGEX May spring wheat fell 3-1/2 cents to $5.18-1/4.

Rallies were capped by plentiful global grain supplies and rains this week that likely boosted yield prospects for the US Plains winter wheat crop. More rain is expected in the region next week.

Algeria’s state grains agency bought around 570,000 tonnes of milling wheat in a tender, European traders said. The origin is optional, but traders said the wheat was likely to be mainly sourced from the European Union. One trader said some US hard red winter wheat could not be ruled out.—Reuters