The rain brought relief, but it didn't last long.

Prices for wheat, corn and soybeans all rose Wednesday after falling earlier in the week. The moves were substantial: Corn and soybean prices both jumped about 2 percent.

Prices for agricultural commodities have been climbing throughout the summer because of a drought gripping large parts of the Midwest. Analysts and farmers fear it will reduce crop sizes, pushing prices higher.

Rain earlier this week helped push the prices down. Corn and wheat prices fell on Friday, Monday and Tuesday. Soybean prices fell Monday and Tuesday. By Wednesday, traders were back to worrying again. Some were concerned that corn, which is planted early in the year and was in a critical growing stage during the hot, dry weather, won't rebound no matter how much rain comes for the rest of the season.

Demand for the crops remains strong overseas, including in China, which is also keeping prices high.

On Wednesday, wheat for December delivery rose 8 cents, or about 1 percent, to $8.6625 per bushel. December corn rose 15 cents to $8.04 per bushel. November soybeans rose 36.5 cents to $16.345 per bushel.

It was a quiet day on the stock market, with investors unwilling to make big commitments, or to make up their mind about whether the economy is improving, on a slow summer day. The Dow Jones industrial average fell slightly. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose slightly.

The moves in metals were similarly muted. Precious metals ticked up slightly, and the industrial metals ticked down. None moved more than a few tenths of one percentage point.

December gold rose $4.20 to $1,606.60 per ounce. September silver rose 4.9 cents to $27.812 per ounce.

September copper fell 0.95 cent to $3.3495 per pound. September palladium fell 35 cents to $578.05 per ounce. October platinum fell $2.90 to $1,396.20 per ounce.

Oil prices rose after the government reported an unexpectedly large drop in U.S. crude oil inventories. That makes traders worried that there won't be enough supply.

In New York, benchmark crude rose 90 cents to end at $94.33 per barrel. In London, Brent crude rose $2.22 to $116.25 a barrel.

Wholesale gasoline rose 8.26 cents to $3.084 per gallon. Heating oil rose 5.06 cents to $3.0852 per gallon.

The exception was natural gas, which is in abundant supply in the U.S. It fell 8.6 cents to $2.748 per 1,000 cubic feet.