US cocoa futures closed lower on Friday but above a fresh one-week low, pressured by technical selling and limited buying interest ahead of a long weekend in the US and London, traders said.
"The buying just wasn't there. It seems as if cocoa is trying to find the rally point and get this thing back up toward the highs," one trader said, referring to the near-four-year peak in mid-April. "The offers were in and there were no bids, and it just created a vacuum."
NYBOT agricultural commodity futures and options markets will be closed on Monday in observance of Memorial Day, and London commodity markets will also be closed that day for a bank holiday. Both reopen on Tuesday.
The New York Board of Trade benchmark July contract slipped $15 to end at $1,928, in wide dealings from $1,964 to $1,910, a low dating back to May 18. September futures fell the same at $1,949, while the rest ranged from $11 to $14 weaker.
The July contract trading on the IntercontinentalExchange NYBOT electronic platform was $24 lower at $1,919, at 12:53 pm, while the rest ranged from $19 to $26 lower. Electronic trading ends at 3:15 pm. Open-outcry volume was estimated by NYBOT around noon at 1,773 lots with traders pegging electronic volume at nearly 4,600 lots at 12:15 pm.