Raw sugar futures tumbled after China's decision to raise interest rates weighed on prices, setting off technical stops and sparking a sell-off in the highly volatile market. Cocoa futures gained, recouping losses on the Chinese rate hike, as market participants continued to monitor developments in top grower Ivory Coast. Arabica coffee futures on ICE were slightly lower, slipping further from 13-1/2-year peaks.
New York raw sugar futures fell as much as 5 percent after the Chinese decision, setting off automatic sell stops. The March contract later pared some of its losses to trade down 1.45 cent or 4.4 percent at 31.23 cents per lb at 1607 GMT, remaining below its 30-year peak of 36.08 cents from February 2. ICE benchmark May cocoa futures climbed $17 or 0.5 percent to $3,240 per tonne. ICE March arabicas traded down 1 cent or 0.4 percent at $2.4875 per lb at 1611 GMT, below their 13-1/2-year peak of $2.5360 a lb from last Thursday.
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