US cocoa futures fell on profit taking in early trade on Friday, after touching a 4-1/2-month high Thursday, while arabica coffee hovered around the unchanged mark, traders said. On the screen, ICE's March cocoa contract fell 2.3 percent or $48 to $2,066 per tonne at 9:25 am EST (1425 GMT), moving from $2,061 to $2,101.
"It's also the end of year so people clean their books up," one coffee trader said. On the screen, ICE March coffee was flat at $1.334 at 9:26 am, in a trading range from $1.33 to $1.3415. The rest ranged from 0.10 cent higher to 0.40 cent lower.