CSCE raw sugar futures finished firmer Friday on a steady drumbeat of speculative fund buying, with operators saying the market could possibly grind higher next week.
CSCE July sugar settled up 0.16 cent at 7.19 cents a lb after trading 6.94 to 7.21 cents. October gained 0.18 to 7.54 cents and the rest rose 0.06 to 0.15 cent. "Right now, we've got the funds really pushing it," a trading house broker said. "We might see another attempt to get to that recent high in July (of 7.36 cents) although there is a wall of producer selling up there."
Sugar surged this week as torrential rains slowed the harvest of the cane crop in leading producer and exporter Brazil, and on talk of a rise in cash activity. Floor sources said most of the fund buying was concentrated in second-position October with some scale-up producer sales trying to cap futures. Technicians put resistance in July at 7.25 and 7.28 cents, with support at 7.00 and then 6.80 cents.
Final estimated volume came to 36,396 contracts, up from Thursday's count of 35,052 lots. In the options ring, 3,538 calls and 1,003 puts traded. Open interest in the No. 11 sugar market rose to 1,031 lots from 288,287 lots as of June 3.
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