US open-outcry arabica coffee settled mostly lower on Thursday in a session marked by speculative selling and two-sided local dealings after hitting a two-week high, traders said. "(We) couldn't really hold those gains so we saw some profit-taking and new selling come in, push us to the lows. After that, the industry came in and started to buy the market a little bit," one trader said.
NYBOT open-outcry benchmark September settled down 0.45 cent at $1.1140 per lb. after trading $1.1010 to $1.1260, which marked a high dating back to June 29. The rest finished 0.45 cent lower to 0.25 cent higher.
On the IntercontinentalExchange's New York Board of Trade electronic platform at 2:02 pm, September coffee was down 0.40 cent at $1.1145 a lb., in a trading range from $1.1015 to $1.1270.
In the top coffee grower, Brazilian coffee producers have sold 22 percent of the 36.5 million 60-kg bag 2007/08 crop by June 30, up from 17 percent sold of the bigger crop a year ago, private analysts Safaris e Merced said on Thursday.
In London, robusta futures finished lower on profit taking after moving closer to nine-year peaks. Liffe September coffee closed down $47 near the session's low at $1,874 moving widely from $1,871 to $1,925.
NYBOT estimated 4,784 lots traded in New York open-outcry, compared to the 4,927 lots officially tallied in floor trade on Wednesday, when 9,987 contracts traded on the ICE screen.
As of July 11, open interest rose 253 lots to 163,799 contracts. In Africa, Uganda's coffee production was expected to increase by about 14 percent to at least 2.5 million 60 kg-bags in 2007 from 2.2 million previously, the coffee board said on Thursday. And on the weather front, Brazil will be mostly dry with chances of some showers in the southern region amid near to above normal temperatures through on Monday, DTN Meteorlogix forecast.