Raw sugar prices finished slightly firmer Thursday on buying by small speculators, and the market was expected to stay range-bound into next week, brokers said.
The New York Board of Trade's March raw sugar contract added 0.03 cent to end at 11.53 cents per lb., dealing from 11.42 to 11.61 cents. May gained the same to 11.70 cents. One contract aside, the rest added 0.01 or 0.02 cent. Technicians believe resistance in the March contract is at 12 and 12.05/08 cents, with support at 11.30 and in layers down to 11 cents.
Volume before the close stood at a meagre 17,790 lots, down from the previous count of 33,028 lots. Call volume reached 5,811 lots and puts amounted to 5,725 lots. Open interest in the No 11 raw sugar market rose 2,317 to 475,251 lots as of November 1. The ethanol market was untraded.