London cocoa surges

London's cocoa market finished on positive ground on Wednesday after a dearth of selling and speculative buying reversed earlier losses, traders said. Liffe's benchmark May concluded 15 pounds higher at 969 pounds a tonne, one pound off the day's high. The low was 965. Turnover reached 2,270 lots while total volume was 5,002.
"Volumes were light and there was a lack of selling," a floor source said. "Some of the speculators who have been taking profit realised the market wasn't going to collapse and bought again."
Light fund interest in New York's cocoa market might also have helped the reversal, he added.
London values - basis May - were trading just below last week's four-month contract high of 979 pounds.
While prices were still down from levels over the 1,000-pound mark reached in mid-November on Ivory Coast violence, fund buying in New York had helped lift them out of the trough seen in January.
A total of 104,700 tonnes of cocoa were delivered against the March contract on Tuesday.
Brazilian 2004/05 (May/April) cocoa arrivals from Bahia and other states totalled 2.97 million 60-kg bags by March 13, down 12.9 percent from 3.41 million bags a year ago, the Bahia Commercial Association said Wednesday.
COFFEE LOWER: London coffee futures ended Wednesday's session lower after a session spent zigzagging up and down amid market jitters about fund liquidation, dealers said.
Liffe's benchmark May ended down 2.7 percent at $988. It hit $978 at one point, the contract's lowest price since March 8.
The second-month position made a brief foray up to $1,044 soon after opening as speculators bought on the back of New York's recovery on Tuesday but scarce volume meant Vietnamese selling later triggered sell stops.
"It's all been in light volume....Any order of more than 10 lots shifts the market," a dealer said. "It looks like small speculators, there's no significant fund involvement."
Spread activity helped lift turnover, which totalled 15,347 lots.
Liffe July slipped 2.6 percent to $1,015 on volume of 4,327 lots. May shifted 8,292 lots.
Coffee has been choppy lately as the involvement of large investors seeking new markets increased volatility.
Fund interest has pushed robusta and arabica o the highest in five years. Liffe's benchmark prices hit a fresh five-year peak of $1,125 on Friday.
However, dealers were less confident on Wednesday than they were earlier this week of the rally's staying power.
"If (New York) breaks below $1.30, who knows where the next (support) price is," the first dealer said.