Raw sugar futures closed mostly firmer on Monday in a session dominated by spread and rollover trade as players moved positions out of the spot contract before it expires at month's end, brokers said.
The New York Board of Trade's March raw sugar contract eased 0.02 cent to close at 10.48 cents per lb, dealing from 10.45 to 10.57 cents. On the spot daily basis, it was the lowest close for sugar since late September 2006.
May rose 0.01 to 10.68 cents. Back months climbed 0.04 to 0.07 cent. The IntercontinentalExchange's NYBoT electronic platform for sugar saw its March contract trade at the day's low of 10.44 cents at 12:55 pm EST (1755 GMT), with the session high at 10.58 cents. Electronic trading ends at 3:15 pm.
"The focus of the day was the spreads. And we should see more of that since people have to get out in a little over three weeks," a dealer for a brokerage house said. On switches, open interest in the March contract fell 3,965 lots to 259,008 lots as of February 2 while interest in May jumped 6,707 to 147,333 lots. Fundamentally, the market took note of news that Morgan Stanley said in a report that sugar prices will come under pressure through 2009/10 due to excess supplies and prices may "average just under 10 cents/lb" through that period.
Open interest in the No 11 raw sugar market rose 4,735 lots to 698,458 contracts as of February 2. Technicians feel support for the March contract in the open outcry pit was at 10.30 and 10 cents. Resistance was at 11 and 11.15 cents.
Volume traded before the close stood at 55,034 lots, from the prior count of 65,919 lots. Call volume stood at 2,145 lots and puts hit 2,404 lots. Electronic volume in sugar was seen around 12,500 lots at 12:47 pm (1800 GMT), dealers said. Electronic trading ends at 3:15 pm. There were no deals in the ethanol market.
US domestic sugar prices ended mixed. The March contract shed 0.02 to 20.58 cents per lb and May was flat at 20.25 cents. One contract aside, the rest were unchanged. The electronic No 14 sugar market saw the March contract slipping 0.05 cent to the day's low at 20.55 cents at 12:57 pm, with the session peak at 20.60 cents.
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