GRAINS-Chicago wheat hits four-month high as cold threatens Russia, US crops

Updates for markets open; changes byline and dateline; changes bullets

By Heather Schlitz

CHICAGO, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures Wv1 soared to their highest price since October on Friday as blistering cold weather in the Black Sea and U.S. Plains regions supported prices and prompted short covering, analysts said.

Corn and soy futures also ticked up as traders monitored parched weather in Argentina, a major producer of both crops.

Grain and soy futures were broadly supported by an easing dollar and investor relief that U.S. President Donald Trump did not immediately impose reciprocal tariffs globally, analysts said.

Trump's decision to order his economics team to prepare plans for reciprocal tariffs was seen by investors as leaving scope for negotiations, though traders remained wary of a possible trade war and retaliation against U.S. agricultural exports.

"The fact that he's giving plenty of negotiating time is friendly for markets," said Randy Place, analyst at Hightower Report.

Most-active CBOT wheat Wv1 climbed 22 cents to $5.99-3/4 a bushel by 11:30 CST (1730 GMT), reaching a high of $6.00-1/4 per bushel.

The most-active corn contract Cv1 was last up 4-3/4 cents to $4.98-1/4 per bushel, and CBOT soybeans Sv1 gained 11-3/4 cents to $10.41-3/4 a bushel.

Cold temperatures in Russian and U.S. hard red winter wheat areas could cause freeze damage to dormant crops that will miss out on a layer of insulating snow coverage, traders said. Russia is the world's biggest wheat exporter.

In France, the soft wheat crop has already worsened sharply since December, data from farm office FranceAgriMer showed.

Supply concerns have prompted commodity funds, which hold a large net short position in wheat, to cover their short positions, traders said.

Corn and wheat markets were also buoyed by brisk weekly U.S. exports, though wheat import tenders this week from Algeria and Saudi Arabia were expected to show continued competition for business from the Black Sea region.