SOFTS-Sugar rises on fund buying, coffee also higher

* Typhoon disrupts Vietnam coffee harvest

* Weak pounds underpins London cocoa

LONDON, Nov 2 - Raw sugar futures on ICE rose sharply on Monday, boosted largely by techically driven fund buying while stronger oil prices and a weaker dollar provided additional support, dealers said.

Coffee futures also advanced as the dollar weakened against a basket of currencies while cocoa was little changed.

"Sugar started picking up towards the end of last week and today I think it was largely chart-based buying," one London dealer said.

March raws rose 0.69 cent to 23.50 cents a lb by 1345 GMT. The contract had traded as high as 24.68 cents two weeks ago but then fell back to a low of 21.78 cents last week before starting to rebound.

Dealers said the initial recovery was sparked partly by signs of a pick-up in physical demand around the lows but there did not appear to be any major new deals concluded over the weekend.

"There is nothing fundamentally that would see the market up 60 points," another dealer said, adding it appeared some fresh fund money had entered the market.

December whites in London rose $11.70 to $592.20 per tonne.

Dealers said the dollar had also provided a key market focus on the last few days with a slight decline in the value of the U.S. currency helping to support prices on Monday.

"A lot of the recent activity has been U.S. dollar index led," one dealer said.

The euro rose against the dollar on Monday as risk-averse sentiment eased on improved economic data and as stocks pared losses, but markets remained skittish before key central bank events and U.S. jobs data this week.

Dealers said the scope for further gains may be limited, at least in the short-term with March raws seen holding in a range of about 22 to 24 cents a lb.

RESISTANCE ENCOUNTERED

"We have met with some resistance from both trade and possibly producer scale up pricing, as well as some profit taking," brokers Sucden said in a report on Monday.

"It appears that the market has had a good correction to the sell off, but at these higher numbers may require news of sizeable offtake, or further production problems, to maintain these levels," the report added.

Coffee futures also rose, boosted partly by the weaker dollar with December arabicas on ICE up 1.80 cents to $1.3730 per lb and November robustas in London climbing $14 to $1,400 a tonne.

Dealers said delays to harvesting in top robusta producer Vietnam were mildly supportive.

Typhoon Mirinae brought strong wind to Vietnam's central coast and heavy rain to the nearby coffee region on Monday, disrupting early harvesting, after killing at least two people in the Philippines at the weekend.

Cocoa futures showed mixed trends with prices in London boosted by the weakness of sterling.

Sterling slipped on Monday, snapping a five-day winning streak against the euro as traders braced for the possibility the Bank of England may announce it will increase its asset-buying programme later in the week.

Dealers noted, however, arrivals in top producer Ivory Coast remained well above year ago levels and prices on ICE were slightly lower.

December cocoa on ICE fell $12 to $3,285 a tonne while March cocoa in London rose 4 pounds to 2,172 pounds a tonne.