US outcry cocoa futures surged to close at a near 4-1/2-year high in a sustained rally on Thursday, on follow-through support from London's strength on Wednesday and technical dealings that triggered buy-stops, traders said. The market was shut on Wednesday for US Independence Day.
"We came in and made some new highs, which brought in some new spec buying and that is what is driving this. You also have some industry and trade short-covering," one trader said. The New York Board of Trade benchmark September contract soared 2.6 percent, or $54, to close at $2,116, in a trading range from $2,090 to $2,129, a high dating back to February 2003 on a second-month basis.
The rest closed in a range from $50 to $54 higher. The second-month contract has climbed 15 percent from its lowest trade June 8 to the session high on Thursday. The September contract trading on the IntercontinentalExchange NYBOT electronic platform was $54 higher at $2,116, at 12:57 pm, spanning $2,067 to $2,129, a contract high.
The rest ranged from $36 to $55 higher. Electronic trading ends at 3:15 pm August options will expire on Friday. Overseas, the Liffe September contract gained 16 pounds to close at 1,135 pounds, in dealings from 1,116 to 1,140 pounds, a four-year high for the second month.
In the world's top cocoa growing nation, an attempt to assassinate Ivory Coast's prime minister last week is likely to delay already-slow progress on a new peace deal to reunite the country but should not cause it to derail, diplomats believe.
Unidentified attackers fired rockets at the Fokker 100 carrying premier Gallium Soro moments after it landed in Bouake last on Friday in the country's northern half, controlled by the rebel movement he has led since a 2002-2003 civil war.
The attack had a bullish impact on cocoa futures markets in both New York and London. Also in Africa, Cameroon's Cocoa and Coffee Interprofessional Board (CCIB) expects output to reach around 180,000 tonnes in the 2006/07 season ending in August, from 164,301 tonnes last year, a board official said on Wednesday.
NYBOT estimated open-outcry volume around noon at 2,129 lots, compared with the 1,184 contracts that traded in open-outcry on Tuesday, when 9,494 contracts traded on the ICE electronic platform.
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