Raw sugar futures inched down to settle weak Friday, a range bound move in quiet dealings the day after the Christmas holiday with light pressure from the firm US dollar, brokers said. The market was closed Thursday. It traded in an abbreviated session with ICE agricultural products trading the electronic platform closing early at 2:15 pm (1915 GMT), instead of the usual 2:45 pm.
The key March raw sugar contract closed down 0.04 cent at 10.98 cents per lb Inside session with trades from 10.83 to 11.04 cents, a double top with Wednesday. Volume traded in the March contract slowed to 3,319 lots at 2:07 pm EST.
May sugar also lost 0.04 cent to finish at 11.61 cents. Exceptionally thin volume as many market participants were away from their desks following the Christmas holiday - traders. "People don't want to be bothered by the market today," - one trader.
Index fund rebalancing over the next month is likely to reduce the fund long position and weigh on raw sugar prices - brokers Sucden said Wednesday. The rebalancing has potential to further pressure both the flat price and the front month spreads, leading to a test of the 10.00-cent level - Sucden.
The global economic crisis is set to curtail the expansion of the sugar market with many Brazilian mills struggling to repay debts, merchant Czarnikow said on Wednesday. Volume traded Wednesday in the No 11 sugar market hit a light 14,302 lots - exchange data. Open interest for No 11 sugar market rose 1,906 lots to 641,590 lots as of December 24. The domestic No 14 sugar market showed the March contract had not traded by 2:03 pm volume on Wednesday in the No 14 market totalled 15 lots - exchange.
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