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CSCE sugar closes mixed on origin, trade sales

NEW YORK: CSCE sugar futures settled mixed Wednesday as nearby months slipped for the third straight session after failing anew to generate upside momentum.

Front March SBH0 ended off 0.04 cent at 5.49 cents a lb after trading in a 13-point range of 5.59-5.46 cents. Over the last three sessions, March has declined 0.30 cent or by 5.18 percent in a technical breakdown after it ran into a wall of trade and origin resistance at 5.94 cents.

Most-active May closed 0.02 easier at 5.67 cents after trading 5.74-5.63 cents, with July flat at 5.94 and October off 0.02 at 6.23 cents. The rest went out 0.03 cent firmer.

"It was a slow, downward type session," a technician for a New York-based investment house said. "It was relatively quiet compared to what we've seen the last few sessions."

Sugar headed north from the open, riding light speculative and local buying to the top of the range, floor sources said. But producer pricing and trade sales cut off the minor advance and sugar slithered lower before finding a pinch of local buying to push it away from the lows.

"The origin and producer selling kind of put a lid on it," a floor broker said.

A physical trader said the approach of options expiry on Friday dampened sentiment as players tried to keep March near the strike price of 5.50 cents.

"Options contained the market," the trader said.

The overriding mood in sugar remained gloomy, however, given the failure of March to surge past solid resistance near the 6.00-cents mark.

With the market still bedevilled by bearish fundamentals, a test of support at 5.40 and then 5.20 cents seems a more likely proposition in sugar futures over the next few days, dealers said.

Resistance would be at 5.60 cents and then the 50-day moving average of 5.74 cents.

Estimated volume traded in the CSCE sugar market reached 20,988 lots from the previous estimated total of 30,050 lots. Call volume touched an estimated 4,573 lots while put volume reached around 2,880 lots.-Reuters