NYBOT cocoa futures finished slightly higher Wednesday on continued fund and speculator buying, though ebbing commercial activity and a bearish weather report kept prices in check, traders and analysts said.
Benchmark September cocoa closed $4 higher to $1,727 a tonne, hovering in a $1,700-$1,738 trading range. December cocoa also rose $4 to settle at $1,745, after trading from $1,719 to $1,754. The rest of the board finished $4 to $6 firmer.
Still, the bulls struggled to keep prices aloft for the entire session as funds took profits, along with weaker commercial buying and producer selling than in the past two sessions, one analyst said.
Final estimated cocoa futures volume Wednesday reached 10,310 lots, against 16,955 lots on Tuesday. Open interest in the cocoa market increased 4,727 lots to 116,826 lots as of August 3. Support in September cocoa was pegged at $1,700, with resistance at $1,750.