London coffee futures closed slightly higher on Tuesday although fund sales in New York caused a retreat from a seven-week peak reached in earlier trade, dealers said. Liffe's second-month January contract ended at $678 a tonne, up $8 after previously reaching $714 on fund short covering, a level not seen since September 28. Volume on the contract was 17,037 lots from a total of 23,109.
March closed 1.31 percent higher at $698 a tonne after ranging between $731 and $685 on turnover of 4,563 lots.
"There's trade, producer and speculator selling...There's been some pre-hedging and hedging though not as much Vietnamese selling as expected," a dealer said.
New York arabica coffee fell about five percent as funds took profits and producers sold, taking advantage of Monday's eight percent rise in prices.
Coffee stocks of Brazilian co-operatives rose 12.5 percent to 7.89 million 60-kg bags by October 31 from 7.01 million bags a year ago, the country's National Coffee Council said on Tuesday.