US nearby arabica coffee futures settled down almost 1.5 percent on Thursday, pressured by light speculative selling in the face of contract switches ahead of a first notice day next week, traders said. The New York Board of Trade's active September contract fell 1.65 cents to settle at $1.1295 a lb., after trading from $1.1230 to $1.1490.
Front-month July, which has its first notice day for delivery on June 22, eased 1.60 cents to end at $1.0955 a lb., while longer-dated arabicas also fell 1.60 to 1.65 cents.
"It was a little bit of specs. Other than that, it was very choppy, with the July/September rolls making up most of the volume," said a floor source, estimating New York Board of Trade arabica futures trading volume at 18,656 lots.
Roasters were seen nibbling at the bottom of the day's trading ranges.
"There was some price fixing near the lows of the market, but not enough to change the direction," said one coffee buyer.
On Wednesday, the benchmark September contract tumbled to $1.12 a lb., its lowest price since February 4.
With little activity in the physical market, speculators have been trimming their long positions amid easing concerns about poor crop prospects, particularly in top coffee producers Brazil and Vietnam.
Technically, traders put key support in the September contract at $1.12, with resistance at $1.16.
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