Orange juice futures closed firm on Monday on speculative short-covering and chart-based buying as talk of cool weather in key grower Florida is seen keeping the market well-supported this week, brokers said.
The New York Board of Trade's March FCOJ contract gained 1.25 cents to settle at $1.9105 per lb, dealing from $1.878 to $1.925. May rose 1.15 cents to $1.8805. Two contracts aside, the rest added 1.25 cents as well.
IntercontinentalExchange's NYBoT juice electronic market saw its March contract traded at $1.9045 at 1:45 pm (1845 GMT), from the previous close at $1.898.
It traded from $1.88 to $1.9195. The electronic market closes at 3:15 pm.
"The specs and locals did some covering to pad it. We could see a little more action until the government comes out with its report," a dealer said.
Forecasters DTN Meteorlogix said Florida will be mostly dry through Friday with temperatures easing later on Monday to 38 degrees Fahrenheit (3 Celsius).
"There is no damaging cold in sight," it said. Analysts said a wholesale sell-off has not been seen in juice given the small size of the crop in Florida and how any weather disturbance could affect the fruit bloom on citrus trees for the new crop harvest in 2007/08.
Technicians see resistance in the March contract in the open outcry system at $1.92 and $1.95. Support would be at $1.80 and down to $1.64. Floor dealers said estimated final volume hit 2,000 lots, against the prior tally of 2,487 contracts. Options volume hit 2,000 lots. Open interest in the juice market rose 35 to 29,205 lots as of February 2.
Floor dealers said volume in the electronic platform for juice futures stood at around 110 lots at 1:45 pm. The not-for-concentrate (NFC) juice market closed flat with the March NFC contract settling at $2.365/lb. The market will be turning its attention to the United States Agriculture Department's monthly supply/demand report on February 9 for the next update on Florida's 2006/07 citrus output. In other news, DTN Meteorlogix said Brazil's citrus areas will get steady rain through Friday.
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