KANSAS CITY — Most winter wheat futures settled sharply higher March 2, but later months were mixed. The war in Ukraine and its effect on wheat exports sent wheat futures soaring to 14-year highs. Beneficial rains in South America pulled corn and soybeans lower.

March corn dipped ¾¢ to close at $7.39 a bushel. Chicago May wheat leapt up the expanded 75¢ daily limit to close at $10.59 bushel. Kansas City May wheat surged 72¼¢ to close at $10.75¼ a bushel. Minneapolis May wheat added 4½¢ to close at $10.58¼ a bushel. March soybeans dropped 28¢, closing at $16.77½ a bushel. March soybean meal declined $6 to close at $457.70 per ton. March soybean oil advanced 2.74¢ to settle at 79.54¢ a pound.

US equity markets ended higher on March 2. News from the Federal Reserve superseded surging oil prices and concerns about the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Investors, anxiously awaiting reports of interest rate hikes, relaxed a little after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell proposed a manageable quarter-percentage-point interest rate increase later this month. Analysts, however, were concerned about the markets’ whipsawing pattern in recent days suggesting this likely signals a fragile market.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 596.40 points, or 1.79%, to close at 33,891.35. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index jumped 80.28 points, or 1.86%, to close at 4,386.54. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 219.56 points, or 1.62%, to close at 13,752.02.