Most US cocoa futures contracts closed mildly higher on Friday on hedge-selling, after early speculative buying boosted benchmark March futures to a high last seen in August, floor traders said. "The early strength was attributed to the currency. Spec buying dried up and some hedge selling came into the market," one trader said.
Sterling moved close to the $2 level on Friday after the pound hit a 14-year high for a second day against a battered dollar, as the prospect of a narrowing US interest rate gap haunted the greenback.
"Arbitrage was a good seller of March and May (contracts)," the trader said. The NYBOT cocoa contract for March delivery moved up $6 to settle at $1,563 per tonne, ranging from $1,551 to $1,580. May rose the same to $1,586, trading between $1,575 and $1,600. The rest rose $5 to $7, with the exception of spot December, which closed down $3. Estimated trading volume near the close was 12,788 lots, down slightly from the previous official tally at 13,614 lots.
In London, cocoa futures closed easier, weighed by light producer selling and the weak dollar, traders said. London's March cocoa finished down 6 pounds at 843 pounds a tonne, after trading from 839 to 852 pounds. Signs of a tighter global market and strong buying interest for some origins pushed up cocoa bean differentials and butter ratios this week, traders said.