CHICAGO, March 8: Chicago Board of Trade rice futures settled higher on Friday as light local short-covering drove most active May to a one-week high, traders said.

We had early strength on continued scale-down buying that prompted local traders to cover short positions late, one CBOT rice trader said. Rough rice futures ended up 13 cents to 17 cents per cwt, with March rough rice futures up 17 cents at $4.64, and May rice up 16-1/2 cents at $4.81-1/2 per cwt.—Reuters