CBOT wheat ends higher as crude oil lifts grains; firm cash markets

CHICAGO, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures rose on Thursday with the benchmark December contract WZ25 posting a two-week high, supported by firming domestic cash markets and spillover strength from crude oil, corn and soybeans, traders said.

• CBOT December soft red winter wheat WZ25 settled up 9-1/4 cents at $5.13 a bushel after reaching $5.13-1/2, the contract's highest since October 9.

• K.C. December hard red winter wheat KWZ25 ended up 11-1/2 cents at $5.00 a bushel and Minneapolis December spring wheat MWEZ25 rose 10-1/4 cents to finish at $5.58 a bushel.

• Wheat, corn and soybean futures got a lift on Friday as crude oil CLc1 surged more than 5% following U.S. sanctions on Russia's two biggest oil firms. The sanctions mean refineries in China and India will need to seek alternative suppliers to avoid exclusion from the Western banking system, analysts said. O/R

• In the cash wheat market, premiums for U.S. hard red winter wheat shipped by rail to or through Kansas City rose by 30 cents a bushel for wheat with 14.0% protein and by 12 to 17 cents for some lesser grades, typically a sign of demand from domestic flour millers. KCBT/SCA

• The International Grains Council raised its estimate of the 2025/26 world wheat crop by 8 million metric tons to 827 million tons, a record high and up 1.1% from the prior season.

• Algeria’s state grains agency is believed to have purchased around 600,000 metric tons of milling wheat in an international tender, European traders said on Thursday, at the higher end of initial estimates from Wednesday. Traders suspected much of the wheat would be sourced from the Black Sea region.