NEW YORK, - Raw sugar, arabica coffee and cocoa futures finished higher on Thursday as the marketextended gains after heavy liquidation this week caused by the nuclear crisis in earthquake-hit Japan.
COFFEE
* May arabica coffee futures rose 5.55 cents to end at $2.709 per lb.
* Analysts said the rise was inspired by a rally in the London robusta market to its highest in three years.
* Scoville said strong London values hoisted New York "up along with it".
* Traders said market supported by lingering tightness in supplies of washed arabica beans.
* Kraft Foods Inc raised the U.S. list price of its Maxwell House and Yuban ground coffees.
COCOA
* Key May cocoa futures rose $67, or 2.08 percent,
to close at $3,282 per tonne.
* The contract closed on Wednesday at $3,215, the lowest settlement for the market since Jan. 21, according to Thomson Reuters data.
* May's premium over July expanded slightly to $10 from $5 on Wednesday. Three sessions ago, it stood at $30.
* Cocoa values supported by civil war in top producer Ivory Coast.
* "The only thing really going for cocoa is Ivory Coast," Scoville said.
* Traders said supplies of cocoa beans more than enough and resolution of the crisis should depress market further because it would allow more beans to reach consumers. ------
