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CSCE sugar finishes mixed in sleepy dealings

NEW YORK: CSCE sugar futures closed mixed on Tuesday as sugar dawdled anew in range-bound business, with overhead origin sales cancelling out the impact of trade and commission-house buying in a moribund market.

"It's the same type of business today. We got producer resistance above and support from commission house and trade buying of the spreads," a physical broker for a trading house in New York said.

May sugar SBKO rose a scant 0.03 cent to end at 5.07 cents a lb after trading 5.14-5.03 cents.

The rest of the board lost ground. July SBN0 fell 0.05 to 5.17 after trading 5.25-5.15 cents. Back months were either 0.03 or 0.04 cent lower.

Steady trade buying in May kept the front month in positive ground for most of the session. ED & F Man was said to be a noted buyer of the contract, floor sources said.

But origin sales, especially when May again approached the recent highs in the 5.15-5.16 cents area, zapped any notion of a sustained advance and drove the market back.

"It's still in a range," another broker for an investment house said.

The market did not get much help when business was cut short due to a routine fire drill which shut down trading from 1200-1230 EST.

In physical news, traders in Dhaka said Tuesday that Bangladesh had bought 25,000 tonnes of whites at $194 a tonne C&F for mid-April shipment.

The physical market continued to be plagued by plentiful supplies and less than impressive demand.

With key origins like Thailand, Cuba and top exporter Brazil expected to price their sweetener, the medium-term outlook for the market remains gloomy, dealers said.

Chartists put near-term support in May sugar at 4.90 and then the contract low of 4.84 cents. Below that, 4.50 cents beckons, they said. Resistance was pegged at 5.20 cents, followed by the 20-day moving average of 5.23 cents.

Estimated volume reached 17,086 lots, against the previous estimated volume of 18,043 lots. Call volume touched an estimated 7,129 lots while put volume hit an estimated 2,745 lots.

The CSCE is a subsidiary of the New York Board of Trade.-Reuters