DTN Early Word Grains 12/08 05:57

DTN Early Word Grains 12/08 05:57 Wheat Flexes its Muscle Early Thursday March corn was 1 cent higher, January soybeans were 5 cents lower, and March Chicago wheat was 5 cents higher. By Darin Newsom DTN Senior Analyst 6:00 a.m. CME Globex: March corn was 1 cent higher, January soybeans were 5 cents lower, and March Chicago wheat was 5 cents higher. CME Globex Recap: It's not often one can point to wheat markets as the strength of the grain complex, and winter wheat at that. But that's the case early Thursday as both Chicago and Kansas City easily outdistance the sleepy corn market and a global oilseed complex seeing red. Part of wheat's strength is coming from the lower U.S. dollar index as the latter slipped below 100.00 overnight. Crude oil continues to rally as gold and DJIA futures post small gains. OUTSIDE MARKETS: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 297.84 points (1.5%) higher at 19,549.62. The NASDAQ Composite gained 60.76 points (1.1%) to 5,393.76, and the S&P 500 added 29.12 points (1.3%) to close at 2,241.35 Wednesday. DJIA futures were 11 points higher Thursday morning. Asian markets were mostly higher with Japan's Nikkei up 268.78 points (1.5%), Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 60.92 points (0.3%), while China's Shanghai Composite dipped 6.88 points (0.2%). European markets were mostly higher Thursday with London's FTSE 100 up 0.97 point, Germany's DAX adding 34.89 points (0.3%), and France's CAC 40 gaining 7.17 points (0.2%). The U.S. dollar index was 0.337 lower at 99.893. Crude oil gained $0.61 to $50.37 while Brent crude added $0.68 to $53.68. December gold was $0.60 higher at $1,178.10. China's Dalian soybean and Malaysian palm oil futures were lower overnight.