CHICAGO, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) agricultural futures rose across the board on Monday, led by wheat.

       The most active corn contract for May delivery rose 14.5 cents, or 1.95 percent, to settle at 7.5625 U.S. dollars per bushel. May wheat soared 55.5 cents, or 5.22 percent, to settle at 11.1925 dollars per bushel. May soybean gained 23 cents, or 1.38 percent, to settle at 16.91 dollars per bushel.

       CBOT agricultural futures were sharply higher as the Russia-Ukraine conflict rages on. War headlines has caused a large share of CBOT volume decline, with few profiting from chasing rallies or breaks, and the expanding volatility of the market is causing traders to relent to smaller positions, or just not trading at all. Chicago-based research company AgResource holds that the best war barometer is the U.S./world stock markets, which stage a strong rally starting early last week.

       AgResource sees no appreciable change in fundamentals that would argue that CBOT corn, soybeans and wheat need to be substantially higher, just fund flows Monday are strongly on the buy side due to the raging conflict. CBOT volume totals are low, and the resting orders are void. U.S. planting weather will become important following the Stocks/Seeding report due out on March 31. AgResource holds that this is no place to chase a rally.

       U.S. export inspections for the week ending March 17 were 57.7 million bushels of corn, 20 million bushels of soybeans and 12.1 million bushels of wheat. The exports of all three were less than expected. For respective crop years to date, the United States has shipped out 1,078 million bushels of corn, down 15 percent year on year; 1,570 million bushels of soybeans, down 20 percent; and 608 million bushels of wheat, down 17 percent.

       It is wetter in the Eastern Plains and the Western Midwest, and the rain also pushes farther west into Western Plains which would aid hard red winter (HRW) wheat.