London's cocoa market closed moderately higher on Friday amid concern about fighting in Ivory Coast although dealers said business was mainly focused on book squaring before the end of the year. The Liffe front-month March cocoa futures contract gained 1.3 percent to close at 850 pounds a tonne after trading between 837 and 850 pounds amid turnover of 2,393 lots.
A total of 3,642 lots changed hands following a half day of trade because of Christmas Eve.
Attackers armed with guns and machetes clashed with villagers over land in one of Ivory Coast's major cocoa growing regions early on Thursday, killing at least 11 people, a senior presidential source said.
"The news probably pulled up cocoa a bit but we've seen it all before. Things were a lot worse a few weeks ago and the cocoa still came out," one floor source said.
Contracts further forward gained nine to ten pounds with September ending up 1.1 percent at 896 pounds a tonne.
Ivory Coast cocoa bean exports totalled 112,669 tonnes for October and November, down about 25 percent on the same period last year, port data showed on Friday. Liffe's cocoa market will resume trading on December 29.
COFFEE FLAT AS TRADE BUYS, ORIGIN SELLS: Liffe's robusta coffee futures closed level on Friday as trade absorbed weak origin sales and participants squared positions before year-end, traders said.
Liffe's most-active March contract ended unchanged at $753 a tonne following a half day of trade because of Christmas Eve. The range was $750-761 and volume reached 1,598.
"There's trade buying and some light scale-up origin selling," a dealer said.
London's front-month January finished at $714 a tonne after a $711-720 range. It accounted for 938 lots out of the 3,602 lots traded altogether. The Liffe market will re-open on December 29.
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