ICE arabica coffee futures settled mildly higher on Friday after a quiet session marked by light December/March spreading, traders said. Many players were away from their desks to attend the Sintercafe Convention in Costa Rica.
"Its just holding resistance at the $1.30 level. The overall volume's light," one trader said, referring to the March contract. In open-outcry trade, ICE March arabica ended up 0.15 cent at $1.2905 per lb, with the rest gaining 0.05 to 0.15 cent.
On the electronic platform, March was up 0.45 cent at $1.2935 at 1:42 pm EST (1842 GMT), moving from $1.2865 to $1.3010. Traders said most of the position rolling out of the spot month into March was done in the week. First notice day for December is November 20. Meanwhile, Brazil's 2008/09-coffee harvest will be close to 50 million 60-kg bags, the Coffee Exporters' Association said on Friday.