London white sugar futures lost intra-day gains to finish down a touch on Wednesday as speculators took profits, traders said. At the settle the front-month futures contract was $257.60 a tonne, down $1.40 from the previous session. Earlier in the day the March contract had pushed up to a high of $259.90 per tonne before dipping to an intra-day low of $257.50 a tonne.
"The price move came from spec selling - the volume was too small for funds - and industry buying," a London trader said.
Towards the end of the session the March/May differential was around $9.60, up from around $8.50 at the end of the previous session's close.
Out of a total of 6,234 lots traded, the March contract clocked up 3,450 lots, May 1,759 and August 1,019 lots.