Investors scrambled into farm commodities, sending several to multi-year or record highs, as a delayed reaction to America's $600bn economic pick-up package sent the dollar tumbling.

Many assets enjoyed a bumper day, with London's FTSE 100 share index hitting its highest in more than two years, and Wall Street stocks posting gains of approaching 2%, as of 20:00 GMT.

However, many crops enjoyed even bigger gains, helping Chicago cornnand soyoil record two-year highs, while New York raw sugar hit its highest for 29 years, and London white sugar reached a record top.

Also in New York, cotton for December rallied the maximum allowed by exchange limits for the third day this week, adding 5.0 cents to an all-time high of 140.52 cents a pound, before easing slightly at the close.

"Pretty much the only crop that is down is orange juice. And who is drinking that any more? Everyone is on power drinks," said Jason Roose at US Commodities as the day approached its close.

Still, juice too recovered to clamber 0.2% into positive ground to end at 165.65 cents a pound, for November delivery.

Deflation 'myth'

The US stimulus package - delivered through so-called quantitative easing, in which the US buys back its own debt - was viewed as helping many markets through encouraging demand, by keeping money cheap,

However, dollar-denominated assets, such as crops, received an extra fillip from the slide in the greenback which the measures have encouraged, in potentially stoking inflation.

"A lot of people are talking about deflation," said Mike Mawdsley at Market 1. "I do not what they are smoking, but that is not the reality."

The 0.9% slide in the greenback to its lowest levels of the year against a basket of currencies improved the appeal of US crops as exports, a factor used as a hedge by many investors.

"The trade today is to sell the dollar and buy pretty much anything else," Mr Mawdsley.

Chicago majors surge

US exports of crops were already running at high levels in many crops, US weekly data showed on Thursday, with soybean shipments hitting 1.59m tonnes, above trade estimates.

The figure was reflected in a rise in Chicago's November lot to $12.68 a bushel at one point, the highest since June last year.

Wheat, whose exports were, at 565,000 tonnes, in line with expectations, added 3.4%.

Corn shipments, at 461,000 tonnes, disappointed for a third successive week. Nonetheless, the December lot was lifted to a a two-year high of $5.95 ѕ a bushel before weakening towards the close.

Lost in translation

While European stock markets gained on hopes for strong demand, the reaction on farm commodity markets was muted, with the fizz from positive US prices dampened by stronger currencies.

Indeed, London cocoa was also among the few commodity losers, easing 0.5% to Ј1,818 a tonne, softened also by the smooth course of the  presidential elections in Ivory Coast, the world's biggest producer of the bean

London wheat for January, the best traded lot, added 0.9% to Ј172.00 a tonne at the finish, while Paris wheat for November gained 0.9% to E220.50 a tonne.


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