05/04/10 – Sugar rose for the fourth time in five sessions in New York on speculation that demand for commodities may climb as the economic recovery broadens. Orange juice also advanced.
U.S. payrolls rose by 162,000 workers last month, the most since March 2007, the Labor Department said on April 2. The Standard & Poor´s 500 Index gained 4.9 percent in the first quarter. The dollar fell as much as 0.5 percent against a basket of six major currencies today, while the Reuters/Jefferies Index of 19 raw materials reached a one-month high.
Last week´s positive job news is “what´s keeping the overall commodities landscape higher,” said Adam Klopfenstein, a senior market strategist at broker Lind-Waldock in Chicago. “A weaker dollar and strong views for the economy are causing some support to sugar.”
Raw sugar for May delivery climbed 0.42 cent, or 2.5 percent, to 17.12 cents a pound at 10:21 a.m. on ICE Futures U.S. A close at that level would be the biggest gain in a week. Before today, the most-active contract rose 31 percent in the past year.
The exchange today said that the number of sugar futures and options contracts traded in March was 54 percent higher than a year earlier. | 