Raw sugar futures finished with slight gains on Tuesday on buying by small speculators in very subdued business and the dearth of leads may keep the sweetener in a narrow band this week, brokers said.
The New York Board of Trade's May raw sugar contract added 0.01 cent to end at 10.23 cents per lb, moving from 10.17 to 10.31 cents.
It was an inside day since the range was within on Monday's 10.11 to 10.32 cents band. July rose 0.03 to 10.18 cents. The rest were 0.01 to 0.03 cent firmer.
In the IntercontinentalExchange's NYBOT electronic market for sugar, its May contract added 0.01 to 10.23 cents as well at 1:23 pm EDT (1523 GMT).
"It was so quiet, everyone was walking around the floor saying 'hi' to one another. I don't know if it's going to do anything either way this week," a floor trader said.
Futures opened mixed as speculators nudged the market from one end of its range to the other, traders said. The dealers said key May appears content, for now, to move in a wide range running from 10.10 to 10.50 cents.
The fundamentals for sugar, though, are less than stellar, with large supplies seen being harvested in top producer Brazil and in India, the world's biggest consumer of sugar.
But other analysts feel sugar could get some support from any rally in crude, which would tempt growers to use more cane to produce the alternate fuel ethanol.
Technicians feel support for the May contract in the open-outcry pit at 10.10 and 10.07 cents, while resistance was at 10.50 and 11 cents. Open interest in the No 11 raw sugar market sank 4,414 lots to 650,555 contracts as of March 19. Volume traded around noon stood at 13,260 lots, from the prior open-outcry count of 26,129 lots.
Call volume was 9,770 lots and puts at 2,892 lots. NYBOT said on Monday's electronic volume was at 50,704 lots and total volume at 76,833 lots.
No trades were done in the ethanol market. US domestic sugar prices ended mixed. The May contract slid 0.07 cent to 20.68 cents per lb and July rose 0.17 to 20.85 cents.
The rest ranged from 0.05 cent higher to 0.22 cent lower. The electronic No 14 sugar market saw its May contract slip 0.01 cent to 20.74 cents at 1:24 pm.