Raw sugar futures finished higher on Tuesday on trade buying and investor short-covering as the market came back from last week's fall to a 5-1/2-month low although the outlook seems gloomy, brokers said.
"There is some short-covering in the spread (between spot July and the back months). But we still look weak. You have a lot of supplies and the rising dollar is adding to the pressure. It still looks down going forward," a dealer for a major financial house who follows the sugar market said.
The recovery came after a long weekend, with sugar futures shut for trading on Monday for the US Memorial Day holiday. Volume traded in the July contract was at 44,196 lots at 2:26 pm EDT (1826 GMT).Volume traded Friday in the No 14 sugar market hit 488 lots, the exchange said.