By Jae Hur Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Wheat rose for a third day in Chicago on speculation that last month’s slump and the dollar’s decline will increase demand from importers. The grain tumbled 12 percent in January, the most since June 2009, on slack demand for U.S. supplies amid increasing global inventories. The U.S. Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the greenback’s strength, added 2.1 percent last month, making U.S. wheat more expensive in terms of other monies. Prices climbed today as the dollar index slid for a third day. “The dollar pullback is behind the bounce,” said Toby Hassall, an analyst with CWA Global Markets Pty in Sydney. “The fundamentals remain soft, particularly wheat and soybeans.” Wheat for March delivery gained 1.1 percent to $4.9275 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade at 12:25 p.m. Paris time. The most-active contract jumped 2.6 percent yesterday, the most since Jan. 4. Prices have rallied 4.5 percent from $4.7150 a bushel on Jan. 29, the lowest level in more than three months, as the dollar index lost 0.8 percent in the same span. U.S. inspections of wheat for export were 17.8 million bushels in the week ended Jan. 28, up 5.7 percent from a week earlier and the most in three months, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Feb. 1. In Paris, milling wheat for March delivery traded on Liffe rose 0.6 percent to 126.75 euros ($177.50) per metric ton. Pimco Forecast Prices also retreated last month as the MSCI World Index of shares lost 4.2 percent, the most in almost a year. The equity- market decline may worsen amid persistent U.S. joblessness and economic growth that trails economists’ forecasts, said Mohamed A. El-Erian, whose firm runs the world’s biggest mutual fund. Investors have wrongly priced in an “orderly” withdrawal of stimulus measures, a rebound in bank lending and coordinated government policy to restore growth, El-Erian, Pacific Investment Management Co.’s chief executive officer, wrote in a Bloomberg News column. Global wheat output in the year ending May 31 will total 676.1 million tons after a record 682.7 million-ton crop in the previous year, the USDA said in a Jan. 12 report. It predicted a 19 percent gain in stockpiles to 195.6 million tons. Soybeans for March delivery added 0.6 percent to $9.3125 a bushel in Chicago. Corn for March delivery climbed 0.6 percent to $3.6725 a bushel. Corn and soybeans both gained 1.7 percent yesterday, the most since Dec. 28, as equities and crude oil jumped, signaling more demand for fuel and livestock feed made from the crops. Crude oil rose 0.7 percent to $77.75 a barrel in New York after gaining 3.8 percent yesterday, the most since Sept. 30. To contact the reporter on this story: Jae Hur in Tokyo at jhur1@bloomberg.net

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