US cocoa futures swooned to close at a five-month low Friday, hammered by fund selling, commodity-wide pressure and the weak sterling, traders said. Benchmark May tumbled $124, or 4 percent, to close at $3,001 per tonne, the lowest settlement for the second position since September 8, 2009. Range $2,988 to $3,133 a tonne.
May volume a heavy 11,141 lots by 12:25 pm EST (1725 GMT). March sank $118 to finish at $2,972 per tonne, with 12,278 lots trading. US cocoa futures tumbled late in the session along with the commodity complex, feeling pressure from a bout of fund selling and the sharply higher dollar - traders.
The Reuters-Jefferies CRB index, a global benchmark for commodities, dropped more than 2 percent for the second straight session, hitting four-month lows. The move lower triggered automatic sell orders in cocoa futures - traders. Heavy March/May spreads, ahead of the spot contract's first notice day February 12, also added pressure and boosted the session's volume - traders. The fall attracted industry and arbitrage buying - one trader.
Cocoa arrivals at ports in top grower Ivory Coast reached 782,055 tonnes in the season to January 31, up from 705,900 tonnes in the same period a year ago - Bourse du Cafe et Cacao. Thousands rioted over Ivory Coast's election preparations on Friday, overrunning security forces in a town in the west of the biggest cocoa-growing nation. Total volume Thursday a heavy 34,488 lots, up from 27,209 lots - ICE. Total open interest at l35,258 lots by February 4, down from 137,604 lots - ICE.
Comments
Comments are closed.