US cocoa futures contracts closed higher in open-outcry trade on Thursday after a session of tight, range-bound trading, dealers said. "It's so lacklustre (today)," one trader said. "It was a bit of a washout yesterday, specs started selling their positions. I think we're just going to end up sliding lower tomorrow."
The benchmark May contract on the New York Board of Trade rose $16 to settle at $1,772, trading in a band of $1,758 to $1,777. July was also up $16 to $1,799, trading between $1,788 and $1,800. The rest settled $16 higher as well. On the IntercontinenalExchange The New York Board of Trade (NYBoT) electronic platform, May was up $22 at $1,778, at 12:40 pm EDT (1640 GMT).
July rallied up $22 to $1,805. Electronic trading ends at 3:15 pm resistance is situated around $1,800 and support at $1,731, according to Fimat analyst Veronique Lashinski. Funds holding long positions are at an extreme high and the daily relative strength index has been moving down. Lashinski predicts an eventual bullish breakout of the three-year range but cautions that there may be at least one more decline before any breakout occurs.
Estimated volume around noon sat at 2,799 lots, while 12,513 were officially tallied on Wednesday with 8,384 of these trading electronically. In London, the Liffe may contract climbed 6 pounds to settle at 991 pounds, with trade from 980 to 993 pounds. July rose 7 pounds to settle at 1,002 pounds.
Meanwhile, Standard & Poor's said on Thursday it may change its debt rating on confectionery maker Cadbury Schweppes Plc, citing its plans to split its sweets and drinks units.
Although splitting off the profitable beverage business would leave the confectionery business with a weaker business profile, the rating will depend on Cadbury's future financial policy, S&P said. In South America, Brazil's cocoa grind totalled 15,366 tonnes in February, down 12 percent from 17,484 tonnes a year-ago, cocoa analyst Thomas Harman said on Thursday.
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