Raw sugar futures bounced higher on Friday from near this week's 6-1/2-year low, while coffee futures rose in technically driven dealings. New York cocoa fell, pressured by a strengthening dollar, against a background of concerns over the potential impact from the El Nino weather pattern on production in main growing centres.
October raw sugar futures on ICE were up 0.23 cent, or 2.2 percent, at 10.93 cents a lb at 1357 GMT, after on Thursday hitting 10.64 cents a lb, the lowest for the spot contract since December 2008, due to a weak Brazilian currency . "It's a bit of a technical bounce really. The market has taken so much pressure, so much heat lately," a trader at a European sugar brokerage said.
" Overall, the fundamentals aren't improving too much and the outlook still looks fairly bleak. The driver this week has been the weakening real. And if it continues to weaken, then the market can go down further." Dealers said drier weather recently in Brazil had weighed on the market by raising expectations for strong cane crush figures, which would add to the oversupplied market.
"Next week will also see the release of the UNICA (Brazil cane industry) crush figures for the second half of July which are expected to be very high," said Nick Penney, a senior trader with Sucden Financial Sugar. October white sugar firmed $6.30, or 1.8 percent, trading at $349.80 a tonne.
September arabica futures were up 2.3 cent, or 1.9 percent, at $1.2655 per lb. "Momentum indicators seem to be hinting towards some upside potential as they trend higher with any buying on improved volumes back above the 40-day moving average targeting $1.3000 per lb," said Kash Kamal, senior research analyst with Sucden Financial Research. September robusta futures rose $12, or 0.7 percent, to trade at $1,652 a tonne, drifting further away from Monday's two-month low of $1,621 a tonne.
New York September cocoa fell $20, or 0.7 percent, to $3,037 a tonne, after falling to $3,027, a 2-1/2-month low. It was cocoa's sixth consecutive day of losses, as speculators continued their exit from the market to protect profits amid the downturn of recent weeks. London September cocoa was down 7 pounds, or 0.3 percent, at 2,026 pounds a tonne.
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