Arabica coffee gained ground in early trade on Friday, recovering some of Thursday's losses, on chart-based support, while the cocoa market crept lower, traders said. Volume was light in both markets, they said.
"There is technical support at the $1.2925 area, so (it's) likely to see buying ahead of that, but it could be short covering as well," one coffee trader said about the key March contract.
The electronically traded ICE March coffee was up 1.05 cents at $1.3285 at 9:15 am (1415 GMT), moving from $1.317 to $1.3345. The rest were up from 0.90 to 1.65 cent. The electronic ICE robusta futures had not traded by 9:16 am Cocoa moved quietly lower while volume was thin.
"The opening saw a little bit of fund or commission house selling," a cocoa dealer said. On the screen, the ICE March cocoa contract lost $5 to $2,061 per tonne at 9:17 am, in a narrow trading range from $2,056 to $2,069. The rest were down from $6 to $12.