US MIDDAY: cocoa and sugar up

US cocoa futures closed higher Friday as it rebounded from a 2-1/2 month, with players saying bean futures were due for a bounce after its steep losses in the last few sessions as the political crisis in top grower Ivory Coast neared resolution.Raw sugar futures ground higher while arabica coffee values tumbled in the market.
The benchmark May raw sugar contract rose 0.33 cent to finish at 27.44 cents per lb. On the week, the market is down 1.5 percent. May arabica coffee futures dropped 4.25 cents to close at $2.599 per lb. Key May cocoa futures rose $59 to finish at $3,011 per tonne.