London's cocoa market managed a moderate rebound from the previous session's abrupt fall as selling pressure eased and industry took advantage of the lowest prices in over a week, traders said on Thursday. Liffe's front-month March futures contract recovered 10 pounds, or 1.2 percent, to close at 853 pounds a tonne. The intra-day high was 859 and the low 840 for a second session. "A lot of European industry have stepped up their buying," a trader said.
Total volume in London on Thursday was 7,713 lots with March trading 3,371 lots.
May futures added 12 pounds to 864 on turnover of 2,407 lots.
Cocoa's recent difficulty in rallying has puzzled some market participants, who point to bullish fundamentals and prices that are about 16 percent below November's 12-1/2 month high.
"Our view is that fundamentally it should be higher but it might be a long haul so we'd rather buy it close to 800 than 900," a broker said.
Bean values surged late last year on violent unrest in Ivory Coast that interrupted the cocoa industry and caused the exodus of thousands of expatriates from the West African country.
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