London's cocoa market put in a strong performance on Wednesday, spurred on by early speculative buying and then limited fund interest, which came in after initial resistance levels gave way, dealers said.
But despite several concerted attempts, the market failed to break through the 900-pound mark, mainly because of increased scale-up selling at the upper end of the range, they added.
In the end, LIFFE December closed 17 pounds higher at 882 a tonne after shifting 3,777 lots, taken from a total turnover of 6,115.
It moved widely after breaking out of a recent rangebound phase from an opening low of 875 a tonne to an intra-day high of 896.
"Speculative buying certainly got London off to a flying start," said one trader.
Dealers said Wednesday's gains held well throughout the afternoon as selling interest lessened.
Structural trade also evident, he added, although not maybe as much as seen in recent days.
The December/March switch was quoted around a $14.5 discount, around $1 narrower than Tuesday. "There were also around 600 AA's (trade against actuals) on December," the trader said.
In fundamental news, Ghana's cocoa board (Cocobod) signed an agreement on Wednesday for a syndicated loan of $850 million from 36 banks for the purchase of cocoa beans during the 2004/2005 season, bankers and board officials said.
COFFEE CLOSES MIXED: London robusta coffee futures settled mixed in modest turnover on Wednesday as the market lacked momentum to keep pace with a stronger New York, traders said.
Benchmark November settled down $1 at $692 in volume of 3,250 lots, having moved in a $695-683 range.
January ended down $1 at $707 in volume of 1,455 lots, and March closed up $2 at $724 in volume of 384 lots.
"We are lagging New York today. There was some profit taking early in the session. The funds, which are short in London, were not as active as yesterday."
Traders said November would need to hit $697 or $700 to break out of the current range.
In fundamentals, the International Coffee Organisation on Wednesday welcomed the decision by the United States to rejoin the body.