US MIDDAY: coffee, cocoa and sugar down

Arabica coffee, cocoa and sugar futures slid more than the rest of commodity sector on Thursday on investment fund and stop-loss sales as the dollar strengthened, dealers said. Arabica coffee futures tumbled off Wednesday's 34-year peak, although tight supplies were expected to keep the uptrend intact.
Raw sugar fell, standing at below 30-year highs. ICE May arabica coffee was down 15.05 cents or 5.1 percent at $2.7980 per lb at 1812 GMT, well below the 34-year high of $2.9665 a lb touched on Wednesday. ICE May cocoa traded down $82, or 2.3 percent, to finish at $3,445 a tonne. ICE May raw sugar futures were down 1.72 cent or 5.7 percent at 28.70 cents a lb at 1814 GMT.