Wheat rises on weather, Ukraine; Gold jumps

Wheat futures rose sharply for a second straight day Tuesday amid cold temperatures in the U.S. and growing concerns that Ukraine's grain exports could be disrupted.

Wheat rose 23 cents, or 3 percent, to settle at $7.02 a bushel. The price has risen nearly 7 percent over the last two days.

In Ukraine, government forces took their first military action to suppress a pro-Russian uprising in the Eastern part of the country, repelling an attack by about 30 armed men at an airport.

Traders worry that if the conflict escalates there or if Russia annexes more of Ukraine's territory it would jeopardize the flow of wheat exports through the Black Sea from Ukraine, which is a major producer of the grain.

In trading of other agricultural products, May corn was little changed at $5.04 a bushel and May soybeans rose 25 cents to $15.01 a bushel.

The price of gold had its biggest one-day decrease since December.

The June contract fell $27.20, or 2 percent, to $1,300.30 an ounce. Other metals also fell broadly. Palladium fell for the first time in six days.

May silver fell 52 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $19.49 an ounce. May copper fell 6 cents, or 2 percent, to $2.99 a pound. June palladium fell $15.60, or 1.9 percent, to $795.90 an ounce and July platinum fell $22.80, or 1.6 percent, to $1,444.60 an ounce.