CSCE cocoa futures in New York eked out a slightly firmer close on Thursday as fund short-covering and speculative buying pushed prices to a 3-week peak before scale-up trade selling trimmed the gains, traders said.
"Specs were good buyers and the funds are heavily short, so they ran the market up as they covered their shorts positions, but the trade sold into the advance," said one floor source.
Benchmark July cocoa rose $8 to settle at $1,413 a tonne, after trading from $1,395 to $1,420 a tonne.
May cocoa ended up $7 at $1,407 a tonne, while the rest of the board traded from $5 to $9 firmer. Looking ahead, traders eyed $1,445 a tonne, basis July cocoa, as the next target-level for prices to breach.