US cocoa futures edged lower on Monday, reversing early gains, amid the dollar's recovering value against sterling in a quiet session marked by thin trading volume, traders said.
The New York Board of Trade's active cocoa contract for May delivery lost $2 to settle at $1,455 a tonne, after trading from $1,445 to $1,468.
July eased $1 to end at $1,478 and back months dipped $1 to $2. "Volume was 5,143 (contracts), so it was very, Very light," said a trader. "The dollar did put a cap on the whole commodity floor," he added.
Currency-related activity between the New York and London cocoa markets largely fuelled price direction, with speculators taking profits when the dollar clawed back from a recent one-month low against the pound.
In London, the Life's cocoa contract for May delivery in London ended 1 pound higher at 876 pounds a tonne. Meanwhile, in top cocoa producer Ivory Coast, major exporters on Monday estimated cocoa arrivals at the country's ports reached around 887,000 tonnes between October 1 and March 5 as the October-March main crop continued to slow.
That compared with 830,000 tonnes delivered to ports during the same period of the previous season. On the technical chart, one trader pegged near-term support in the NYBOT's may contract at $1,444, and then $1,433, with resistance at $1,467, and then $1,479.
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