CSCE raw sugar futures settled mixed on Friday, with nearby months declining, as May/July rollover stayed in focus before the May contract expires next week, dealers said.
May sugar go down 0.04 cent to 6.51 cents a lb., within a 6.63 to 6.48 cents range. Active July lost 0.07 cent to 6.79 cents traded from 6.94 to 6.77 cents and the rest concluded between down 0.05 cent and 0.01 cent firmer.
Traders concentrated on rolling positions out of spot may into active July before May expires April 30, market sources said.
Speculative selling also lightly weighed on raw prices.
Open interest in the May contract fell 5,722 lots to 26,834 lots as of April 22 and interest in July rose 333 to 144,829 lots.
Mike McDougall, senior vice-president of the Brazil desk at FIMAT USA Inc., said, "Origin selling tended to cap any advances and trade buying underneath the market continues to support it."
Talk in the physical market was centred on an Egyptian tender for 160,000 tonnes of raw sugar, which has an April 26, deadline.
Fundamentally in sugar, analysts view the outlook as becoming bullish with demand seen outpacing consumption in 2004/05 and production in vital producers like Thailand seen suffering this year.
Technicians said resistance in May sugar was at 6.80 cents, followed by a psychological target at 7.00 cents. Support was at 6.49 and the area around 6.05 cents to 5.95.
Final traded volume reached 31,498 lots, against 28,797 lots counted on Thursday. Call volume was 3,053 lots and puts touched 1,932 lots. Open interest in the No. 11 sugar market fell 4,653 to 277,368 lots as of April 23.
US domestic sugar futures closed flat to lower on Friday.
July sugar fell 0.03 cent to 20.95 cents a lb., while September slipped 0.04 to 21.06 cents. Back months were unchanged to down 0.04 cent.
Final estimated volume was 541 lots, versus 316 lots previously.