London: Raw sugar and arabica coffee futures edged higher on Thursday, boosted partly by a stronger Brazilian real while cocoa prices were slightly lower. Brazil's real rose as much as 1 per cent in early trading on Thursday after the central bank announced the previous evening it would sell dollars outright in the spot currency market this month for the first time since 2009 in response to rising demand for liquidity. 
 

A stronger real makes dollardenominated prices less attractive in local currency terms and can deter producer selling. Brazil is the top producer of both commodities. 

October raw sugar was up 0.06 cents, or 0.5 per cent, at 11.67 cents per lb by1356 GMT. Dealers said the market had been weighed down by short-term oversupply, highlighted by October's large discount to March.