NYBOT arabica coffee futures closed slightly softer on Thursday on sales by small speculators with the trades focus fixed on winter conditions in leading producer Brazil, brokers said.
July arabicas shed 0.40 cent to conclude at 74.05 cents a lb, almost in the middle of its 73.60 to 74.60 cents trading band. Key September fell 0.35 to 76.25 cents, trading between 75.60 and 76.70 cents.
The rest lost 0.15 to 0.25 cent. Judy Ganes of J. Ganes Consulting said coffee futures were "treading water" gave the dearth in market-moving news. "Its quiet and just jobbing back and forth," a broker added.
Indeed, the small speculators pushed the market to its highs for the day shortly after the bell. When they could not extend the advance, the speculators sold coffee and then did some covering off the lows, the brokers said.
One broker said many players would wait for the longer-term weather bulletins from Brazil after the July 4 Independence Day holiday weekend in the United States. "If they see that the weather is good in Brazil and there is no frost, we could see coffee prices lose some ground here," one said.
For now, private weather forecaster Meteorlogix said the coffee areas of Brazil should stay dry, with temperatures ranging from the low to middle 50s (11-14 Celsius). "There is no damaging cold expected during the next seven days," it said.
Technicians said they see resistance in the September contract at 78 cents and 79.50 cents, with support at 75 cents and 74.50 cents. Final estimated volume hit 7,507 lots, down from the on Wednesday tally of 10,582 lots.
Call volume was 5,075 lots, while puts reached 1,318 lots. Open interest in the arabica coffee market fell 1,192 contracts to 90,518 lots as of June 23.
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