US cocoa futures contracts closed lower on Friday, the first day of side-by-side electronic and open-outcry trade, after early buying support waned, traders said.
"There was a lack of smaller fund traders off-setting their long positions, and just shedding out their longs for the weekend," one trader said. The New York Board of Trade benchmark March cocoa contract fell $10 per tonne to $1,631, in dealings from $1,626 to $1,658, while May closed down the same at $1,666, trading in a band from $1,661 to $1,689. The rest closed $11 lower. Nybot's agricultural commodities traded electronically for the first time on Friday, on the electronic trading platform of the IntercontinentalExchange.
The electronic March cocoa futures contract was at $1,620, while May sat at $1,658 at 12:58 pm EST (1758 GMT). Electronic trade started at 7 am and was scheduled to close at 3:15 pm.
One cocoa dealer said the side-by-side electronic trading platform worked better for sugar and coffee futures contracts, which have larger volumes. "There were a few trades actually broken because they were out of the limits, which caused a few problems," the dealer noted. Nybot estimated cocoa volume traded in the pit near the close at 12,349 lots, compared with the 21,329 officially tallied on Thursday. Traders estimated the volume of electronically traded contracts at 1,000 after the pit session closed.
In London, the Liffe March cocoa futures contract settled down 1 pound at 892 pounds per tonne, trading in a range from 886 to 902 pounds. May ended down the same at 909 pounds, trading from 903 to 918.
In industry news, European physical cocoa butter ratios slipped from their recent high levels this week as supply tightness was reduced, traders said on Friday. Butter ratios for first-quarter delivery were quoted at around 2.72 to 2.74 times London's March cocoa bean contract, down from 2.77 to 2.80 last week, but still slightly firmer from 2.72 in late December.
Comments
Comments are closed.