New York sugar up

Raw sugar futures settled firmer on Friday on options-related and speculative buying as the trade pondered the direction of the sweetener given its bearish fundamentals, brokers said. The New York Board of Trade's July raw sugar contract gained 0.03 cent to finish at 9.29 cents per lb, moving from 9.18 to 9.30 cents.
It was an inside day since the range was within Thursday's 9.15 to 9.37 cents range. October added 0.04 to 9.55 cents. The rest ranged from 0.05 cent up to 0.02 cent down.
On the IntercontinentalExchange's New York Board of Trade (NYBoT) electronic market for sugar, the July contract rose 0.01 to 9.27 cents at 1:36 pm EDT (1736 GMT). "There wasn't any feature to it and it was real slow. We need new information because otherwise, we're stuck," a long-time floor analyst said.
Analysts said a supply glut will likely put pressure on nearby contracts in the months ahead and that prices may test the region of 8.50 cents, basis the spot month. But back months were steadier on ideas that next year's crop in top consumer India may not be as high while consumption is set to increase at a steady pace. Futures opened higher to quickly reach its session high, but the market tailed off from speculative pressure and then came back late, dealers said.
"It's still dealing between 9.00 and 9.50 cents (basis July). Until we close above or below that, there's very little to talk about," a dealer explained. Technicians put support for the July contract at 9.00 and 8.50 cents, with resistance at 9.50 and 10 cents.
Final open-outcry volume in sugar was at 17,403 lots, from the previous tally of 8,150 lots. Call volume was 13,622 lots and puts 7,487 lots. New York Board of Trade said Thursday's screen trade was 44,804 lots and total volume 56,976 lots.
Open interest in the No 11 raw sugar market rose 3,334 lots to 726,335 lots as of May 10. The ethanol market was untraded.
United States domestic sugar prices ended mixed. The July contract rose 0.02 to 21.15 cents a lb while September added 0.07 to 20.97 cents. One contract aside, the rest slipped 0.02 or 0.05 cent. Screen volume traded Thursday in the No 14 sugar market hit 46 lots and open-outcry deals numbered six lots. On the electronic No 14 sugar market, the July contract gained 0.02 to 21.15 cents at 1:37 pm.