US MIDDAY: cocoa at 32-year peak

Cocoa futures on ICE rose to close at a 32-year high Friday as rebels seized a town in top grower Ivory Coast, while raw sugar rebounded ahead of the March contract's expiry Monday. Coffee prices rose after a two-day setback. The United Nations Secretary General said Ivory Coast was closer to the brink of a new civil war after rebels controlling the north seized a town in government territory and were heading south.
May cocoa on ICE rose $14 to finish at $3,639 per tonne, the highest settlement since January 1979, after touching a session high at $3,650. This widened the premium of May to $66 compared with July, from $65 on Thursday. May raw sugar futures jumped 0.91 cent or 3 percent to finish at 28.74 cents per lb.