London white sugar futures finished slightly down but well above the day's lows as a late bout of short covering helped to trim losses, dealers said. December closed down $1.00 at $399.00 a tonne, near the top of the day's $400.00 to $394.80 range. Total volume was 5,269 lots.
Dealers said some shorts decided to cover after support at a key trendline on March New York was tested but held firm. They noted the market was much less volatile that earlier in the week when a rise in prices to a two-month high was followed by a sharp decline.
COCOA LOWER: London cocoa futures closed lower on Friday, weakened by speculative and light hedge selling in thin conditions, dealers said. December closed 9 pounds a tonne lower at 816 pounds, near the bottom of the day's range of 829 to 814 pounds. Total volume was a light 3,898 lots.
"We had some spec long liquidation and small hedge sales and industry buying. Basically that was it," one dealer said, noting the market remained quiet and stuck in a trading range.
COFFEE SLIGHTLY DOWN: London robusta coffee futures ended slightly lower on Friday with business dominated by spread trading and prices holding in a narrow range, dealers said. November closed down $4 a tonne at $1,486 after prices had held in a narrow range of $1,495 to $1,480. Total volume of 13,706 lots included more than 10,000 lots of spread trades, with November-January particularly active as positions were rolled forward out of the front month.