London white sugar futures closed higher on fund and trade buying on Wednesday, dragged up by a rally in the New York raws market to a one-month high, dealers said.
Front-month October finished up $1.0 at $247.0 a tonne in volume of 7,262 lots, after trading in a $248.7-246.5 range.
December settled up $2.0 at $254.5 in volume of 2,925 lots.
"In London we saw funds selling the October-December spread, and funds bought December, so the October-December spread widened to $8," one trader said.
Traders said the surge in New York infected sentiment in the London market, which held on to morning gains, continuing the upward pressure from Tuesday when fund and trade buying triggered buy stops against producer selling.
NYBOT raw sugar futures shot up on fund short-covering and trade buying believed tied to likely purchases by India, the world's largest consumer of sugar, brokers in the US said.
Indian and Chinese operators have bought cargoes of sugar over the past several days, European market sources said on Wednesday.