MORE PAIN FOR GRAINS: Corn, wheat and soybeans continued to rise with no relief from the drought blanketing farming states. December corn rose 7.25 cents to $8.2375 a bushel and September wheat rose 13.75 cents to $9.13 a bushel.

THE DROUGHT: The weekly U.S. Drought Monitor map indicated that the area with extreme or exceptional drought rose to 24 percent, up nearly 2 percentage points from the previous week.

METALS UP: Gold for December delivery rose $4.20 to $1,620.20 per ounce, September silver rose 2.2 cents to $28.097 per ounce and October platinum rose $2.60 to $1,412.80 per ounce.