NEW YORK, Feb 2: CSCE sugar futures ended on a mixed note on Friday as raws consolidated after getting battered nearly all week by heavy fund selling, with trade buying preventing the market from falling much further.

We’re consolidating. The trade’s been more aggressive today, a senior broker said, adding destination purchases and Russian pricing likely gave the market a mild boost.

Raw sugar prices have been slammed by speculative fund sales brought on by a technical failure at 8.00 cents, basis March. The free-fall was compounded by predictions of a large 2002/03 cane crop from top grower and exporter Brazil, whose harvest is set to start in April.

CSCE March sugar was the only loser as it slipped 0.03 cent to close at 6.35 cents a lb, moving from 6.45 to 6.31 cents, matching the session low it posted in Thursday’s trade.

It was the lowest close for sugar on a spot basis since Oct. 9, 2001, when it ended at 6.15 cents. Since closing at 8.03 cents on Jan. 9, the market has lost 20.92 per cent in value.

May rose 0.02 cent to settle at 5.78 cents.

The rest were flat to 0.05 cent firmer.

Residual fund selling dragged the market lower at the start, but trade buying gave futures a lift as it staged a very modest recovery to its highs for the day, floor sources said.

A late wave of local and minor fund sales pressed the spot contract to its lows for the session, but buying by the trade and small speculators swiftly reversed the market’s course so that most contracts ended with marginal gains, they said.

The funds sort of backed off today. You’re not going to see a lot of contracts traded in this session, a broker said.

Traders said open interest in the sugar market expanded sharply on Jan. 31, an indication that the funds were adding to their short positions in the market.

Open interest in the number 11 sugar contract rose 3,440 lots to 196,979 lots. A few months ago, open interest in the market stood at 120,000-130,000 contracts.

Looking to the weekly CFTC commitment of traders data due out later on Friday, analysts believe the funds and small speculators should still be a few thousand lots net long, although the report will not contain the heavy fund sales seen the past three sessions.

They should have swung solidly short, but I don’t think it’s going to show up in this report, a broker said.

But the longer-term prospects are gloomier, especially with the Brazilian cane harvest looming on the horizon.

Cash dealings were said to have perked up, with Syria tendering for 26,000 tons of whites and 26,000 tons of raws for March/ April shipment. The country expects to import 130,000 tons of sugar in 2002.—Reuters