US arabica coffee futures inched to a lower close on Friday, ahead of the US long weekend, and pressured by speculative profit-taking and light producer selling, traders said.
"I think the long speculators wanted to book profits for the weekend and, as far as people buying for frost scare (in Brazil) in the week, all hopes were dashed," said James Corridor, head trader of Liberty Trading Group.
Brazilian coffee farms in northern Paranoia, Sao Paulo and south Minas escaped frost on Friday, the coldest day of the year, as a weakening polar air mass moved across the coffee belt, private meteorologist Sombre said. NYBOT open-outcry benchmark July coffee ended down 0.45 cent at $1.1290 a lb., in dealings from $1.1220 to $1.1390.
September futures slipped the same at $1.1565 a lb. while the rest settled from 0.10 to 0.40 cent lower. NYBOT agricultural commodity futures and options markets will be closed on Monday in observance of Memorial Day, and London commodity markets will also be closed that day for a bank holiday.
Both reopen on Tuesday. On the ICE New York Board of Trade electronic platform at 2:01 pm. July coffee was down 0.60 cent at $1.1275 a lb. In London, robust coffee futures closed higher on speculative buying and a lack of sellers, dealers said.
Life's benchmark July coffee closed up $13 at $1,739, after moving from $1,724 to $1,741. NYBOT estimated 5,438 lots traded in New York open-outcry, compared with the 4,395 lots that traded in the pit on Thursday, when 11,152 dealt electronically on the ICE platform.
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