Raw sugar futures closed sharply higher on Friday on speculative fund buying, and the market may post further gains after a holiday break, brokers said. The raw sugar market will be shut Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr Day. Business resumes on Tuesday. The New York Board of Trade's March raw sugar contract sprang up 0.11 cent to end at 8.83 cents a lb, trading from 8.75 to 8.84 cents.
May sugar rose 0.10 to 9.13 cents. The rest gained 0.01 to 0.08 cent.
Judy Ganes of commodity firm J. Ganes Consulting said a "little bit of fund buying" drove the sweetener north although the key March contract seems pinned in a band from 8.50 to 8.90 cents.
"It's in a wide range and keeps bouncing (around like) a yo-yo," she said.
Volume traded before the market closed for the day stood at 14,572 lots, from the prior tally of 27,732 lots.
Call volume at that time was 5,777 lots and puts hit 2,834 contracts.