Raw-sugar futures dived to one-week low Thursday as traders took profits following three weeks of steady gains in the most active contract.
Raw sugar for July delivery lost 4.9% to end at 15.84 cents a pound on the ICE Futures U.S. exchange, its largest percentage loss since March 24.
Sugar put in a new high, he said, and with no news to help it go higher, traders decided to take profits.
As of last Tuesday, net bullish bets on sugar were at their highest since Jan. 5, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data, outweighing bearish bets by 134,616 contracts.
“So the funds push the market and then demand dries up and the market washes out again. It would appear we are in the process of doing this again,” Michael McDougall, director of commodities at Societe Generale in New York, said in a note.
In other markets, cocoa for July was down 0.9% to end $3,158 a ton; arabica coffee for July rose 1.5% to end at $ 1.215 a pound; frozen concentrated orange-juice futures dropped 1% to end at $1.369 a pound; and July cotton lost 1.6% to close at 61.79 cents a pound.
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