London cocoa futures ended mostly up on Tuesday in muted business and dealers said the market was expected to remain soft.
Second month May closed five pounds up at 868 pounds a tonne having moved between 868 and 845 pounds on 4,192 lots from total turnover of 8,295.
Front-month March closed unchanged at 888 pounds on 2,250 lots.
"A few days ago we went to 862, basis May, and then went down to 850 and that gave us an indication that the market was looking for lower levels," one dealer said.
"Yesterday and today it has gone lower and it hit 845 earlier and it looks like on the charts it is still within a descending trend. Origin is not doing much and industry is buying only lightly. It is difficult to get a strong read."
Dealers said potential industry interest below the market could keep a lid on potential losses.
"Spec selling is the feature at the moment in London and there is not too much origin pressure at these levels," another dealer said.
Technical analysts said the market was likely to hover within recent territory. Support on May was seen at 839 pounds with resistance pegged at 879.