US cocoa surged briefly to a 3-1/2-week peak amid thin dealings in early trade on Friday, while arabica futures crept higher with speculators playing both sides of the market, traders said. "There are a lot of inflation plays going on right now. A lot of new money coming in and buying commodities right now with the dollar weak again," one cocoa trader said.
"Producers will sell into this for sure." On the electronic screen, ICE December cocoa jumped $62 or 3.4 percent to $1,888 per tonne at 9:53 am EDT (1353 GMT), in a wide trading range from $1,825 to $1,920 which marked a high last seen October 2. The rest rose $45 to $46. Arabica found mild support. On the screen, ICE December coffee was up 0.05 cent at $1.2065 per lb at 9:55 am, moving from $1.1995 to $1.2175. The rest ranged 0.05 to 0.45 cent higher.