US MIDDAY: cocoa firmer on deficit swelling

NYBOT cocoa futures ended up modestly Friday after the dollar fell in the face of a record trade deficit in June, analysts said.
"It looked like the market wanted to break down at one point on a wave of spec selling, but the US dollar dropped sharply following the trade deficit figures and that set the market back up to the highs and kept us in the previous day's range," one trader said.
Benchmark September cocoa settled up $11 at $1,627 a tonne after trading $1,604 to $1,633. December gained $8 to $1,653 after trading from $1,634 to $1,660 and the rest rose $5 to $9.
The US currency was battered by the deficit swelling to a record $55.8 billion. US economists had looked for a gap of $47 billion. The greenback weakened further on the University of Michigan's index showing flagging US consumer sentiment.