New York benchmark cocoa futures settled at a four-week low on Tuesday, pressured by fund and currency-based selling, while scale-down trade buying lent support in thin pre-holiday trade, dealers said. "Cocoa's fall was influenced by the sterling's losses against the euro, which caused arbitrage-type selling here," said a New York desk trader. "London's price was also weaker but not as low as New York's, due to arbitrage buying in London."
The New York Board of Trade's most-active March cocoa contract fell $19 to end at $1,572 a tonne, its lowest close since $1,557 on November 22, after moving between $1,569 and $1,590.