Arabica coffee corrected higher in early trade on Friday, in range-bound dealings following Thursday's sharp drop as forecasts for rain in top producer Brazil continued, traders said.
"Off of yesterday's sell-off, you're looking for a technical rebound in the market but with the weather concerns still out there for next week, I think people are reluctant to buy," one coffee trader said. On the screen, ICE December coffee inched up 0.60 cent to $1.26 per lb at 9:26 am EDT (1326 GMT), in a band from $1.2465 to $1.2685.
The ICE March robusta futures contract was up 0.85 cent at 81.75 cents per lb, moving in a tight band from 81.70 to 81.75 cents. Cocoa futures slipped following a bearish US third-quarter 2007 grindings report, but traders said the data did not appear to pressure prices. On the electronic platform, ICE December cocoa was down $16 at $1,867 per tonne at 9:29 am, in dealings from $1,861 to $1,887. The rest were down from $8 to $21.