Raw sugar futures closed a whisker higher on Friday, with modest buying by local brokers supporting prices as the market stayed stuck in a narrow trading range and recent fund selling dried up, dealers said.
The New York Board of Trade's key October contract rose 0.01 cent to end at 9.68 cents a lb., trading from 9.65 to 9.80 cents. March futures climbed 0.03 to 9.99 cents. The rest of the board was up 0.03 to 0.10 cent.
Raws followed a similar pattern to the last three sessions, zigzagging between trend-line support near the day's lows and technical resistance at levels nearer to the psychological 10-cent mark, basis benchmark October sugar.
The market has been consolidating in a range since early August, when October raws shot to a 4-1/2-year high of 10.35 cents after weeks of steady fund buying.