CSCE raw sugar futures finished lower on Monday on speculative sales as players came out of the holiday break liquidating positions in spot May ahead of its expiration by the end of the month, analysts said.
The raw sugar market was shut on Friday for Good on Friday.
CSCE may sugar slid 0.11 cent to end at 6.67 cents a lb., moving from 6.55 to 6.84 cents. July lost 0.09 cent to 6.99 cents. The rest fell 0.02 to 0.11 cent.
"We've got the liquidation we've been waiting for in May as people switch positions from that contract and into the back months. I think we're going to see more of that," a senior floor broker said.
Sugar had recently posted steady gains, aided by belief in the trade that demand in 2004/05 could outpace production.
But news that China might not buy large amounts of sugar this year tempered the mood of market bulls, the analysts said.
Most of the activity in the market stemmed from players rolling positions out of May.
Open interest in the contract slid 6,881 to 96,956 lots as of April 8 while interest in July jumped 7,018 to 88,126 lots.
The volume of business has been modest, especially since the London white sugar market was closed for Easter.
Technicians said resistance in May was at 6.80 cents, then 7.00 cents. Support was at 6.65 and 6.49 cents.
Final traded volume hit 56,042 lots, up from the prior tally of 53,624 lots. Call volume reached 7,409 lots while puts stood at 3,325 lots. Open interest in the No. 11 sugar market rose 864 lots to 274,833 lots as of April 8.