Raw sugar prices crumbled from combined speculative profit-taking and producer sales to finish sharply lower Wednesday, abruptly ending Tuesday's surge to a 2-month high, with brokers saying the market was looking at further losses this week.
The New York Board of Trade's March raw sugar contract slid 0.99 cent, or 7.8 percent, to end at 11.59 cents per lb., dealing from 11.56 to 12.20 cents.
On Tuesday, the contract jumped 0.87 cent, or 7.4 percent, to settle at 12.58 cents in the highest close for sugar on a spot basis since ending at 12.65 cents on August 16. May fell 0.90 cent to 11.74 cents. The rest lost 0.55 to 0.80 cent.
Technicians believe the next area of resistance for the March contract is back at 11.90 and 12 cents. They said support would be at 11.50 and 11 cents.
Volume before the close stood at 63,312 lots, down from the previous count of 135,885 lots. Call volume reached 13,637 lots and puts amounted to 8,387 lots. Open interest in the No 11 raw sugar market soared 13,477 to 455,127 lots as of October 17.
No deals were done in the ethanol market.