Arabica coffee futures settled at a 10-year high on Wednesday on continued fund buying interest and as participants continued to roll out of the March contract and into May, traders said. "It's been led by the funds. There isn't really any bullish news right now," one dealer said.
In the pit, the benchmark ICE May arabica coffee contract closed 1.60 cents stronger at $1.5215 per lb, the highest settlement for the second month since March 1998. The rest settled up from 1.55 to 2.20 cents. The May arabica contract trading on the electronic platform was up 1.45 cents at $1.52 cents at 1:59 pm EST (1859 GMT), moving from $1.4915 and $1.528.
The rest ranged from 1.25 to 2.20 cents higher. All contracts hit lifetime highs. Position rolling out of the March contract into May ahead of the spot month's February 21 first notice day continued to be a feature, traders said. Arabica futures were weak in trade.
"Coffee is finding some profit taking up here. I heard yesterday about some Colombian selling, too," said Jack Scoville, a vice president for Price Group in Chicago, during early trade.
In related news viewed as supportive to futures prices, list prices of Maxwell House, Yuban, Chock full o'Nuts and other popular coffee brands were raised on Tuesday as manufacturers pass on to consumers higher prices for green coffees.
Funds have been pouring money into commodities since January, buoying prices across the board. "The seasonal tendency for this market is to move lower between now and the middle of April," one trader said.
The trader pegged psychological resistance for the May contract around $1.535. Robusta coffee futures trading on the London International Financial Futures Exchange (Liffe) closed firm on support from speculative buying. Liffe's May contract closed $45 higher at $2,272 a tonne in dealings from $2,204 to $2,289.
The ICE March robusta contract was untraded by 1:45 pm. Final pit volume was pegged at 6,048 lots by ICE, compared to the lofty 9,577 lots that traded on Tuesday, when 39,403 lots traded electronically. Open interest rose 2,074 lots at 192,447 lots as of February 12.