Friday, 13 March 2015 01:13
NEW YORK/LONDON: Robusta coffee futures on ICE extended losses to a 13-month low on Thursday, on fund and technical selling, while chart-based selling pushed New York cocoa down in heavy volume for the seventh straight day.
Raw sugar rose above the prior session’s six-year low as the market consolidated despite the falling currency in Brazil, the world’s biggest sugar producer, which attracted producer selling earlier this week.
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May robusta coffee closed down $ 52, or 2.9 percent, at $ 1,768 a tonne, after touching $ 1,756, the lowest level since February 2014.
Funds ignored reports of hoarding in top grower Vietnam and focused on expectations for a large 2015/16 crop. Technical sell signals also attracted chart-based selling after the second position closed below the 50 percent Fibonacci retracement level back down to the 2013 low in the prior session, traders said.
Arabica coffee futures turned higher but remained within sight of a 13-month low of $ 1.288 per lb touched on March 3.
May arabica coffee futures finished up 0.45 cent, or 0.3 percent, at $ 1.322 per lb. Total open interest rose to 194,613 lots on Wednesday, the highest since March 2008, exchange data showed.
Cocoa futures continued to fall from multi-month highs and key Fibonacci retracement levels.
New York May cocoa closed down $ 17, or 0.6 percent, at $ 2,838 a tonne, after finding support at the 61.8 percent Fibonacci retracement level at $ 2,813.
May London cocoa ended down 9 pounds, or 0.5 percent, at 1,989 pounds a tonne.
Raw sugar futures rose for the second day, rising above technically oversold levels on the 14-day relative strength index.
Front-month May raw sugar futures closed up 0.07 cent, or 0.5 percent, at 13.21 cents a lb, having dipped briefly on Wednesday to 12.97 cents, the lowest for the spot contract since April 2009.
“Technically, the market is still very much in a downtrend,” said Nick Penney, a senior trader with Sucden Financial Sugar.
May white sugar closed down 70 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $ 371.10 a tonne.
Dealers spoke of strong white-over-raws premiums, buoyed by recent brisk demand from China for refined sugar.
Copyright Reuters, 2015
