Raw sugar futures finished softer Monday on fund sales and the pressure felt from players transferring positions out of the spot March contract ahead of its expiration at the end of the month, brokers said. The New York Board of Trade's March raw sugar contract fell 0.15 cent to close at 8.93 cents a lb, after ranging from 8.85 to 8.99 cents. May sugar shed 0.09 cent to 9.38 cents. The rest declined 0.05 to 0.08 cent.
"It was mostly spreads. That's the name of the game this month and we'll probably see more losses as people become more aggressive in the roll," an investment house dealer said.
March is due to expire on February 28. Open interest in March fell 6,138 lots to 177,084 lots as of February 3.
Market fundamentals remain bullish due to a supply deficit and an uptick in consumer buying from countries like India, the world's largest consumer of sugar, and its South Asian neighbour Pakistan.
But the market slumped from the opening bell as funds dumped futures or liquidated positions in the March contract so they can be transferred to back months.
Volume traded just before the market closed for the day stood at 43,770 lots, versus the prior 33,473 lots. Call volume hit 1,224 lots and puts came to 1,560 contracts. Open interest in the No 11 sugar market fell 276 lots to 410,593 contracts as of February 4.
Ethanol futures ended unchanged with the February contract finishing at 95 cents a gallon.
US domestic sugar ended mostly lower Monday. March fell 0.70 cent to 19.26 cents a lb and May slid 1.04 to 19.41 cents. The rest ranged from 0.04 cent lower to 0.02 cent firmer. Volume traded before the market shut hit 114 lots, from 812 lots previously.
Comments
Comments are closed.