April 20, 2006	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 21, 1427

LONDON, April 19: London benchmark sugar futures touched a 15-day peak on speculative buying toward midday on Wednesday, and traders said raw sugar futures could open little changed to firmer.

August futures touched a session high of $484.50 per tonne, just short of the previous contract peak of $484.90 touched on April 4, and later eased back to stand at $481.30, up 50 cents or 0.10 percent, in volume of 828 lots at 1037 GMT.

October was down $1.0 to $476.00 in volume of 459 lots.

Traders noted strong buying by speculators early in the session, before futures eased back to stand little changed before midday.

Speculators are buying again, one trader said, noting that firm crude oil prices were giving some support, and adding that NYBOT raw sugar futures were likely to open steady to 0.10 cents per lb firmer.

Sugar has attracted heavy buying from speculators because of rising demand, low stocks, and a strong appetite by investment funds seeking high returns from commodities, analysts said.—Reuters