By Kirk Maltais

--Wheat for March delivery rose 1.7%, to $7.58 1/2 a bushel, on the Chicago Board of Trade on Friday, changing course midway through trading after fund selling sent prices down for seven out of the nine previous sessions.

--Soybean for March delivery rose 1.7%, to $14.10 1/4 a bushel.

--Corn for March delivery rose 0.5%, to $6.06 3/4 a bushel.

HIGHLIGHTS

Timely Turnaround: After dropping 8.8% over the previous nine trading sessions, wheat futures made a turnaround in the middle of today's session. "Wheat got smoked to the downside overnight with longs in the beans and corn selling our contracts to lay off risk in front of next week's USDA reports, but about mid-session, the selling dried up, and the market popped back up on short covering off the strength in beans and corn," said Charlie Sernatinger of ED&F Man Capital.

Adjusting for Risk: Soybean futures led trading higher Friday, with South American weather continuing to be the main driver for rising prices. "Beans and corn are building in a bit of South American weather risk premium as crop estimates for that hemisphere continue to be trimmed, but if that momentum can continue may be significantly influenced by what Uncle Sam has to tell us next week," said Dan Hueber of the Hueber Report. The USDA is scheduled to release its next WASDE report on Wednesday, which is expected to update expectations for both supply and demand.

INSIGHTS

Lingering Effect: Earlier today, grain futures were lower in response to poor export sales reported by the USDA on Thursday--illustrating how important the question of demand is to traders ahead of next week's WASDE report. "Lame export numbers are weighing on Ag prices," said Robert Yawger of Mizuho Securities USA in a note published in pre-market trading. Export sales of U.S. wheat and soybeans came in at marketing-year lows for 2021/22 near the end of December, the USDA said Thursday--although the agency reported new flash sales of grains to Mexico and unknown destinations today.

Eyes on Next Week: Reports from multiple government sources due out next week are expected to shape trading in agricultural futures, said AgResource. "CBOT midday trade is mixed amid the sizable uncertainty that exists heading into the weekend and next week," said the firm. In particular, the release of a report detailing Brazilian crop estimates by Conab as well as the USDA's WASDE report are expected to inform how traders make their decisions.

AHEAD:

--The USDA will release its weekly grains export inspections report at 11 a.m. ET Monday.

--The EIA will release its weekly ethanol production and stocks report at 10:30 a.m. ET Wednesday.

--The USDA will release its monthly world supply and demand report at noon ET Wednesday.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-07-22 1514ET