CBOT wheat ends higher on Black Sea tensions, speculative buying

CHICAGO, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures closed higher on Tuesday as rising tensions in the Black Sea grain export region appeared to spark a round of speculative buying, including short-covering, analysts said.

• CBOT March soft red winter wheat WH26 settled up 6 cents at $5.41 per bushel.

• K.C. March hard red winter wheat KWH26 ended up 6-1/4 cents at $5.33 a bushel and Minneapolis March spring wheat MWEH26 rose 4-3/4 cents to finish at $5.80-3/4 a bushel.

• Traders were monitoring war-related risks to Black Sea shipping. Ukrainian drone strikes last week against two oil tankers bound for a Russian port were followed by a drone attack on Tuesday against a Russian-flagged vessel carrying sunflower oil.

• A Ukrainian official said Ukraine was not involved in Tuesday's attack, but Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to sever Ukraine's access to the sea.

• Some analysts believe that commodity funds hold a net short position in CBOT wheat futures, leaving the market vulnerable to bouts of short-covering.

• Following delays due to the U.S. government shutdown, the latest data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed funds still held a sizable net short position in CBOT wheat futures as of October 21.

• Ample global grain supplies kept a lid on rallies, with big harvests noted in Argentina and Australia.