US cocoa futures ended lower Tuesday, erasing more than half of yesterday's gains on speculative profit-taking sparked by a stronger dollar, traders said.
"It was a much needed technical correction that was accentuated in New York by a slightly stronger dollar. We had a couple of days of up moves here, and there are some people taking some profits," one trader said.
New York Board of Trade most-active December cocoa slid $20 to settle at $1,440 a tonne after trading from $1,426 to $1,459. March shed the same to $1,456 and distant months dropped $20 to $22.
Traders cited some origin selling from top grower Ivory Coast, although hedging activity was thin.
NYBOT estimated cocoa futures volume just before the market closed at 4,872 lots, down from 5,930 lots the previous session. Open interest rose 670 lots to 119,971 lots as of October 11.
Technically, one trader pegged support for December delivery at $1,425 with resistance at $1,470.