US cocoa futures closed mostly unchanged Friday, in a session dominated by options-related activity as July options expired, clawing back from a one-month low hit on early liquidation, traders said. "We came close to both strikes and were trading right in between," one trader said, pegging the strikes around $1,850 and $1,900.
The New York Board of Trade benchmark July contract ended flat at $1,883, in a trading band from $1,892 to $1,855, a low last seen May 4. September futures also ended unchanged, while the rest ranged from steady to $1 higher.
The July contract on the IntercontinentalExchange NYBOT electronic platform was $8 lower at $1,875, at 1:01 pm EDT (1701 GMT), while the rest ranged from $9 lower to $5 higher. Electronic trading ends at 3:15 pm. "There hasn't been any bullish news of late, which is why we've backed off from those highs ... when we were looking to retest that contract high," one broker said.
US cocoa soared to near-four-year highs in mid-April, following severely dry conditions in parts of the West African cocoa belt, and failed to make new highs during a rally in late May. This led to long liquidation by funds and speculators this week. In London, the Liffe September cocoa futures contract ended 2 pounds lower at 1,043 pounds, in a trading band from 1,034 to 1,053.
In industry news, cocoa arrivals at ports in Ivory Coast from October 1 to May 27 reached 1,053,552 tonnes, compared with 1,156,407 tonnes in the same period last year, exporters said on Friday. Meanwhile, investment bank Fortis on Friday raised its forecast for the global cocoa surplus in 2007/08 to 128,000 tonnes, against a previous forecast of 64,000 tonnes.
NYBOT estimated open-outcry volume around noon at 2,798 lots, compared with 3,507 contracts traded in open outcry on Thursday, when 11,502 contracts traded on the ICE electronic platform.
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