London, Nov 4 - Cocoa and sugar futures edged up on light industry buying on Tuesday, supported by a weaker dollar and firmer commodities and equities, with some participants sidelined ahead of the U.S. presidential election.
Coffee futures rose, underpinned by the softer dollar, in slim volumes in cautious trading ahead of the U.S. poll, and concern focused on the outlook for demand in the grip of a deepening global economic slowdown.
London cocoa dealers said origin sellers appeared to be holding back, while industry buyers and the weaker dollar supported the market in modest volumes.
"If the pound weakens, this could weigh on U.S. cocoa and bring London down," one trader said, referring to risks that sterling will fall further on expectations of a sharp cut in interest rates by the Bank of England later this week.
U.S. cocoa futures crumbled to settle down 4 percent on Monday, dropping for the third straight day as sterling fell against the dollar.
Australia cut interest rates sharply on Tuesday, presaging likely reductions in Europe later this week, and evidence of recession mounted despite glimmers of hope from major banks.
Warm, sunny weather across Ivory Coast's main cocoa growing areas in the past week heralds the start of a short dry season that will help determine the size of the crop in the world's top producer, farmers say.
Benchmark March raw sugar futures edged higher on trade buying and could run into producer selling and investment fund buying at around 12.35 cents a lb, dealers said.
ICE March raw sugar was up 0.12 cent or 1 percent to 12.30 cents a lb at 1219 GMT.
London December white sugar was up $2.0 or 0.6 percent to $337.00 per tonne in slim turnover of 981 lots.
Coffee edged up on light speculative and roaster buying, wiht many participants cautious ahead of the U.S. election.
Attention centred also on fears that more Indonesian coffee exporters had defaulted on shipments after a bank seized more than 10,000 tonnes of beans from an exporter in Sumatra following a repayment dispute.
ICE December arabica coffee was up 1 cent or 0.9 percent to $1.1335 per lb at 1221 GMT.
London January robustas were up $28 or 1.7 percent to $1,670 per tonne in modest volume of 2,987 lots.