US cocoa futures finished in negative territory Tuesday, succumbing to speculative selling when the benchmark contract failed to get above a key technical level, traders said.
The New York Board of Trade's benchmark December contract declined $3, or 0.2 percent, to settle at $1,410 a tonne, after trading from $1,405 to a 13-day high of $,1426.
Traders said the contract needed to penetrate $1,430, which was the bottom trade on August 10, in order to attract more buying interest. Among other cocoa futures, March eased $5 to $1,440 a tonne, and back month deliveries shed $3 to $5.