London cocoa eases

Liffe futures eased slightly on Thursday, trailing weaker New York cocoa prices, with thin volume boosted by spread trades, dealers said. The September contract was down six pounds at 870 pounds a tonne at the close, in turnover of 2,967 lots. Total volume was 7,233 lots.
The contract traded in a 869-886 range, with the bottom end of the range representing the contract's lowest point since 29 July.
"We have been fairly quiet...we are trailing along behind New York," one trader said.
Earlier in the week, cocoa had crawled to a fresh one-month high of 894 pounds, on news of delays to the peace process in Ivory Coast, while New York futures briefly touched $1,505 on Wednesday, the highest level since June 29.
"Everyone was unconvinced that the up we had was sustainable. ... now everyone thinks it has done enough. It would have to be well above $1,500 in New York for it to stay higher," he said.
COFFEE STEADIES: London coffee futures closed steady on Thursday after the New York market's failure to maintain its session highs eroded Liffe's earlier gains, dealers said.
They continued to complain about lack of liquidity, which has caused erratic price swings this week.
London's front-month September had a settlement price of $1,118 a tonne, up just $1 after earlier reaching as high as $1,131. It made a session low of $1,105 and had turnover of 3,121 lots.
"We went up a bit on speculative buying but New York dropped off and the speculators lost interest in London," one trader said. "We're not seeing any roaster buying or origin selling. It's just speculators and day traders trying to make a crust in a thin market."
London's second-month November also added $1 to close at $1,148 a tonne after turnover of 2,177 lots. Total volume was 6,308 lots.
SUGAR MOVES UP: London white sugar futures reversed early losses and tracked NYBOT raws to close a touch higher on speculative buying, traders said.
Front month October settled up 50 cents at $292.9 per tonne in volume of 2,956 lots, having moved from $287 to $295.1.
December concluded up 50 cents at $280.9 per tonne in volume of 932 lots, after trading from $275.6 to $282.9.
"London was down this morning on trade selling, and then moved into positive territory following New York, which hit new peaks," a trader said, referring to a new 4-1/2 year high of 10.35 cents per lb touched on Thursday.