London coffee futures weakened on Thursday in a choppy market trying to gauge the size of the downside and pressured by long speculative liquidation, dealers said.
"Many people are desperate to see a correction lower but it might well be that the market will go back up again from here," a dealer said.
"We came down on the close below $800 from yesterday and the fact that we started to see some cracks on the wall in New York.
"But the 77.75 cents (a lb) level has miraculously hold in New York and we have avoided the risk of a gap in the downside," he added.
Benchmark March closed $15 lower at $783 a tonne on 5,224 lots out of total turnover of 8,516 lots.
It moved in a $790-$775 range, after breaking initial support at $783. Further support was seen in the $760 area. May lost $15 to end at $798 on 2,509 lots.
January/March narrowed to around a $20 premium, with the front month approaching its last notice day next Friday and less than 400 lots left of open interest.