Raw sugar futures in New York ended sharply lower on investment fund and stop loss selling as soft commodities bore the brunt of a heavy sell-off in the commodity sector. Traders took the opportunity to lock in profits on markets that had largely resisted any oil-induced weakness over the past week. A surging dollar added to the losses as overseas investors faced rising prices for dollar-denominated commodities, an incentive to hold off buying and cash in profits. The benchmark May contract shed 1.71 cents to close at 28.71 cents/lb, just above the lower end of the day's 28.56-30.38 cent range. July gave up 1.36 cents to 26.41 cents/lb, while the rest of the board finished 41 to 125 points lower and trade volume was up at 90,824 lots from 62,564 in the previous session.

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