(Bloomberg) -- Sugar prices edged lower for a fifth session in New York, shrugging off a rally in crude oil as traders weighed improved global supplies. 

The March contract dropped as much as 0.7%, before trading down 0.5% at 18.69 cents a pound as of 8:25 a.m. in New York. The losses come as geopolitical tensions accentuate wild swings across broader financial markets.

“It is particularly difficult to predict market direction at the moment,” brokers at ADM Investor Services said in a note. “Sugar looks to continue to consolidate with support below 18.50 and selling above 19.30 but with a downside bias.”

Brent crude climbed as traders focus on mounting tensions over Ukraine, a move that typically bolsters the bullish case for sugar as millers divert more cane to making ethanol. That’s been countered by larger sugar harvests in Thailand and India, although Citigroup Inc. is still predicting a global deficit.

In New York, arabica rose 0.5% on ICE U.S. Futures, with cotton and cocoa also edging higher. 

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