EU wheat futures settle higher with other commodities

European wheat futures ended higher on the first trading day of 2010, receiving a lift from rising crude oil and soy prices.

March Paris milling wheat futures were traded at EUR134.50/tonne (US$193.5), up 0.94%, with 2,331 lots moved. London May feed wheat futures were up 0.89%, at GBP113.25/tonne (US$182.8), with 155 lots moved.

Despite its weak fundamentals, the wheat market continues to be driven higher by fund investment, traders said

As one of the laggards among commodities in 2009, wheat will benefit from the annual rebalancing of commodity indexes. The Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index begins its rebalancing this week, when it will reduce the weighting of 2009's best performers and increase the weighting of the worst performers.