London cocoa ended steady on Tuesday after mainly structural and speculative activity as the market continued to keep an eye on sterling's value against the dollar, dealers said.
A stronger New York futures market towards the close helped cancel earlier losses, they added.
Liffe December closed unchanged at 865 pounds a tonne after moving 2,537 lots. A total 5,428 lots were traded.
"The turnover has largely been attributed to structural activity rather than to outright activity...the market is also simply adjusting itself to recent currency moves," one trader said.
Dealers said the outlook for prices was far from clear. "I think a lot of people remain standing on the sidelines until we start to see the season opening, or at least some sort of direction from the speculators.
"At the moment, neither of those two things are happening," said a trader.
On the fundamental side, Meteorlogix forecast favourable crop conditions in West African cocoa growing regions during the next two days. Yet some farmers in Ivory Coast are having problems drying their beans after recent heavy rainfall.
COFFEE JUMPS: London robusta coffee futures closed higher on fund short covering and trade buying on Tuesday, traders said.
November closed at $693 a tonne, up $34, in volume of 11,725 lots. Total volume was 18,328 lots.
"We've seen funds short covering in London, fund buying in New York, as well as trade buying today," one trader said.
November spiked higher early in the session on trade and speculator buying, and momentum was maintained throughout much of the session.
Traders noted support in November around $675-680 and resistance at $695.
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