London's cocoa market recovered from an earlier eight-week low to close higher on Wednesday in what traders said was a technical rebound. London's front-month March finished at 857 pounds a tonne, up 1.4 percent, following an 851-871 range on turnover of 4,525.
"There's a bit of a rally today. We've had four days of lower closes and there's been a technical reaction," one floor source said. "With the dollar being so strong I would have thought New York would be weaker."
NYBOT's March cocoa was up $12 at $1,585 a tonne by London's close.
Dealers noted decent buying on the forward months and liquidation on the nearby contracts in London.
Most of the 12,270-lot total volume came from front-month March and December 2005.
December attracted volume of 4,854 lots and settled up 11 pounds at 897 pounds a tonne.
May was the next most active, trading 1,297 lots before closing at 868 pounds.
COFFEE DROPS SHARPLY ON NEW YORK FUND SELL-OFF: London's robusta coffee market logged heavy losses of over six percent on Wednesday after fund liquidation in New York sent a nervous Liffe through support levels, floor sources said.
Liffe's most-active March contract opened down 1.5 percent at the day's high of $763 a tonne and then added to losses once New York opened. It bottomed out at $720 before closing down $50, or 6.5 percent, at $724 a tonne.
The New York benchmark March arabica contract tumbled as low as 99 cents a lb on Wednesday.
Coffee players have been readying for funds to offload holdings as large investors continued to defy market assumptions about their buying capacity over the past few weeks.
Earlier this week they were believed to have a historically high net long position of about 45,000 lots.
Traders said Wednesday's wash-out caused panic selling by speculators and origins but some said it was a temporary setback and expected the bull market to continue into next year amid fears of tightening supplies.
"I don't think this is the end. New York still has the capacity to go up, even to 110, 120 (cents a lb) and London could go up to $1,000," one dealer said.
The trader said London's $50 drop could draw in roasters on Thursday, with strong support in March seen around $713.
"People have been expecting this market to step down for some time as funds are so long but I think this market has got a fair wind behind it and roasters will buy on the dips," a London-based analyst said.
In fundamental news, German analyst F.O. Licht said global coffee production may fall short of consumption by 3 million 60-kg bags in 2004/05. The analyst warned that the deficit may deepen the following year as an expected drop in the Brazilian harvest hurts global supply.
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