US benchmark cocoa futures rose on Friday, ending up 4.8 percent at a three-week high thanks to speculative short covering and fund buying in line with London's surging cocoa market, market sources said.
The New York Board of Trade's active March cocoa contract rose $65 to settle at $1,425 a tonne, the highest settlement since October 27.
Automatic stop-loss fund orders were elected when March prices drove through recent peaks, hitting an intraday high of $1,430. Among other cocoa contracts, May climbed $64 to end at $1,444, while back month contracts advanced $63 to $66.