Raw sugar prices staged a modest rebound on trade and speculative buying to finish higher Tuesday but the market is trapped in a band and bearish fundamentals could eventually lead to lower values for the sweetener, brokers said.
The New York Board of Trade's March raw sugar contract climbed 0.10 cent to end at 11.55 cents per lb, dealing from 11.30 to 11.60 cents. May rose 0.08 to 11.69 cents. The rest added 0.05 to 0.12 cent.
Technicians believe resistance in the March contract is at 12 and 12.05/08 cents, with support at 11.30 and then in layers down to 11 cents. Volume before the close stood at 27,701 lots, from the previous count of 39,961 lots. Call volume reached 9,165 lots and puts amounted to 9,307 lots. Open interest in the No 11 raw sugar market rose 414 to 470,681 lots as of October 30.
No deals were done in the ethanol market.