Raw sugar futures closed higher on Tuesday on speculative fund buying while a paucity in leads depressed dealings in the ring, brokers said. ICE Futures March electronic sugar contract added 0.05 cent to 9.76 cents per lb at 1:04 pm EST (1804 GMT), dealing from 9.71 to 9.78 cents.
The March open-outcry sugar contract rose 0.03 to end at 9.74 cents per lb, moving from 9.73 to 9.77 cents. May gain 0.02 to 10.04 cents. Still, the most likely path for sugar appears south because investment funds have steadily raised net short positions. Sugar popped up to its session highs and spent most of the day in a tight band. "We did not really go too far and from the way we're behaving, I don't think this market will break out of its range," one analyst said.
Open-outcry volume around noon was at 4,213 lots, versus the prior tally of 7,628 lots. Electronic deals in the March contract stood at around 14,782 contracts as of 1:05 pm. Call volume at noon was 6,421 lots while puts hit 9,828 lots.
Screen trade on Monday was 47,929 lots and total volume reached 55,557 lots. Open interest in the No 11 raw sugar market climbed 6,671 lots to 781,150 lots as of December 3. No deals were done in the ethanol market.
The US electronic domestic No 14 sugar market showed the January contract down 0.02 cent to 19.49 cents at 1:06 pm. Screen volume traded on Monday reached 452 lots while no lots were traded in the pit, the exchange said.
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