NEW YORK: Orange juice futures rose for the fourth straight session to end Thursday at a four-week high on chart-based investor buying inspired in part by tight nearby supplies, dealers said.
The key November frozen concentrated orange juice futures rose 4.90 cents to finish at $1.679 per lb, dealing from $1.63 to $1.6885. It was the highest spot settlement close in the market since Sept 13.
Total volume traded Thursday was over 2,800 lots, around two-thirds above the 30-day norm, preliminary Thomson Reuters data showed.
"The specs are pushing it higher and it looks like they are trying to take out $1.70 (basis November)," a trader said. "I think the market has a shot at getting there."
Switch activity was seen as players unwound positions before November goes into delivery next month, dealers said.
The market has largely shrugged off news the US Agriculture Department forecast Florida's 2011/12 citrus crop at 147 million (90-lb) boxes, in the middle of trade belief it would run from 142 to 152 million boxes.
The figure was little changed from the estimate by trade house Louis Dreyfus in August the crop would come in at 146 million boxes.
Trade eyed weather conditions near Florida, since weather disturbances could still hit the top citrus growing state in the country since the annual hurricane season does not end until Nov. 30.
The level of investor interest remained near a three-year low as open interest stood at 24,313 lots as of Oct. 12, ICE Futures US data said.
Volume traded on Wednesday hit 2,780 lots, versus the previous 7,367 lots which is the highest since Aug 10, exchange data showed.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.