US cocoa futures prices closed higher on Wednesday after trade buying reversed losses from speculative selling, traders said.
The New York Board of Trade's bellwether cocoa contract for December delivery gained $9, or 0.6 percent, to finish at $1,549 a tonne, near the upper end of a $1,512 to $1,552 trading range.
"We had a little spec buying in the day, and then we started to rally up after that on trade buying," said one trader.
He said funds could be lured back to the market if the December contract scales above $1,555, the top trade on September 2 and the loftiest price seen since late June.
Among other contracts, March concluded $7 higher on the day at $1,580 a tonne, and back month contracts advanced $6 to $8. Estimated trading volume in New York Board of Trade's cocoa fetched 9,426 contracts, above the 8,990 lots officially tallied the previous session.
In London, Life's December cocoa contract settled up 0.8 percent at 881 pounds a tonne. Sterling was quoted at $1.8403, little changed from when the New York cocoa market closed on Tuesday.