CSCE raw sugar futures settled slightly lower on Wednesday as funds began aggressively rolling positions out of March ahead of the contract's expiration at the end of February, brokers said.
CSCE March sugar eased 0.04 cent to conclude at 5.40 cents a lb, moving from 5.39 to 5.48 cents, within on Tuesday's 5.37-5.50 cents band.
May fell 0.06 cent to 5.67 cents. The rest lost 0.03 cent to 0.07 cent. Marius Sonnen of Sonnen and Co Inc said outright business was "very slow" since most of the running in the market was dominated by funds transferring positions from March and into later months.
Fundamentally, the market's prospects remain gloomy due to a glut in supplies, stiff freight rates that have deflated cash buying and the looming prospect of another record cane crop from Brazil, the top grower and exporter.
The market's technicians feel support in the March sugar contract remains at 5.31 cents, then 5.26 cents and in layers down to 5.00 cents.
Resistance would be at 5.50 cents, followed by the region of 5.54/57 cents. Final estimated volume reached 55,202 lots, up from the previous 51,413 lots.
Call volume was at 3,762 lots and puts stood at 5,532 lots. Open interest in the No 11 sugar market rose 4,542 lots to 272,016 lots as of February 10.
US domestic sugar futures ended mostly firmer on Wednesday.
May sugar rose 0.04 cent to 20.44 cents a lb while July inched up 0.01 cent to 20.56 cents.
Except for two contracts, the rest went up 0.02 cent to 0.05 cent. Final traded volume hit 43 lots, down from 98 lots previously.

Copyright Reuters, 2004

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