US arabica coffee futures closed down nearly 2 percent at a fresh eight-day low in open-outcry trade on Thursday after producer and speculative selling triggered sell stops, traders said. "The downtrend's still intact after that brief short-covering rally we saw in the last week and overall, (there is) just a lot of supply right now," one trader said.
NYBOT open-outcry May coffee settled down 2.10 cents at $1.1060 per lb after trading $1.1280 to $1.1030, which was a low last seen March 21. July fell 2.00 to $1.1350 and the rest shed 1.95 to 2.00 cents. On the IntercontinenalExchange New York Board of Trade electronic platform at 1:42 pm EDT (1742 GMT), the May contract was down 2.45 cents at $1.1025 a lb. July fell 2.25 to $1.1325 and the rest retreated 1.25 to 2.30 cents. The May contract has fallen 16 percent since late December.
The market appeared to be breaking out of the downtrend during a short-covering rally within the past week, but the price retreat is forming a head-and-shoulders pattern on the charts. Selling triggered stops in the May contract at $1.1195 and then again at $1.1100. On Friday, initial support was pegged at $1.0880 with resistance at $1.1200, traders said.
NYBOT estimated coffee futures volume at 5,283 lots, compared with the 9,925 lots that traded on Wednesday, when 6,624 contracts traded electronically. Open interest continued to climb with additional 1,108 lots at 152,455, a new record according to traders, as of March 28.
Robusta coffee futures in London fell on origin selling amid light volume, dealers said. Lives may contract slipped $9 to $1,552 per tonne, in dealings from $1,550 and $1,567. The weather in No 1 coffee producer Brazil will be mostly dry or a few light showers with near to above-normal temperatures through on Tuesday, DTN Meteorlogix forecast.