Raw sugar futures closed higher on Tuesday on trade and broker buying, with prices also getting a lift from firmer London white sugar, brokers said. The New York Board of Trade's March raw sugar contract rose 0.14 cent to end at 8.99 cents a lb, after dealing from 8.71 to 9.00 cents. May sugar gained 0.16 to 9.37 cents. The rest were up 0.04 to 0.15 cent. Raws scrambled up on technical buying after recovering from a slide to one-month lows, with stronger London sugar lending a hand after recent fund buying evaporated.

"You had some good trade buying and the locals got long," said a NYBOT floor broker. "There was no fundamental news; this was mostly technical."

Copyright Reuters, 2005