LONDON: London cocoa futures on ICE climbed on Friday, as a sharp tumble in the British pound offset temporarily outweighed ample global supplies and bearish technicals, while raw sugar slipped from a one-week high after stumbling on technical resistance.
COCOA
July London cocoa was up 14 pounds, or 0.91 percent, at 1,550 pounds a tonne by 1133 GMT, after hitting a session high of 1,577.
Dealers said prices were lifted by the pound, which tumbled as much as 2.5 percent after an election that denied any party a majority in parliament, just days before Brexit talks begin.
"The market is moving up, largely as a result of currency," said one dealer. "But there's no real fundamental news and we're still heading for a surplus. We've been in this range for weeks and I don't think it's likely to change."
Sentiment was dampened by a failed rally in the previous session, which saw both markets surge 4.6 percent to only give back most of these gains by the end of the session.
Dealers pegged the move on a wave of short-covering by speculators, but said the surge had quickly ran into selling.
July New York cocoa were off $11, or 0.56 percent, to $1,952 a tonne, after initially climbing to $1,977.
Volume in New York continued to be dominated by speculators rolling forward their positions, dealers said.
SUGAR
July raw sugar was down 0.03 cents, or 0.21 percent, at 14.31 cents per lb.
Prices hit a one-week high in the previous session, after several failed corrective rallies this week.
But the market's inability to climb over the short-term moving average weakened technicals going into Friday, dealers said.
Participants continued to monitor top grower Brazil for signs of disruptive rains, although more positive forecasts diminished these concerns.
"Ethanol parity remains a more than a cent lower," said Tobin Gorey of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. "Sugar is quite possibly still on a ledge rather than at the bottom of the cliff."
August white sugar eased $0.10, or 0.02 percent, to $405.60 a tonne.
China reduced its 2017/18 sugar import forecast to 3.2 million tonnes from 3.5 million tonnes.
COFFEE
July arabica coffee rose 0.55 cent, or 0.44 percent, to $1.269 per lb.
July robusta was up $10, or 0.50 percent, at $1,993 a tonne.
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