US cocoa futures rallied 3.5 percent, or $50 a tonne, Thursday as fund and speculative buying boosted prices to a 2-month peak amid reports of a reduction to Ivory Coast's main cocoa crop, market sources said.
"We filled an upside gap on some spec and fund buying which ran into some origin selling at the top of the range," said one cocoa dealer.
The New York Board of Trade's (NYBOT) active March cocoa contract ended $50 higher at $1,465, its best settlement since September 29. Trading ranged from $1,425 to $1,474. May cocoa shot up $49 to $1,484 and the back months settled $48 to $50 higher.
NYBOT final cocoa volume was estimated at 15,647 lots, nearly three times that of Wednesday's official count at 5,410 lots.