New York cocoa jumps on dollar, speculative buying

New York cocoa futures rose on Thursday to a fresh 2-1/2 month high as a softer dollar and chart-inspired speculative buying lent support, while spot raw sugar also climbed as funds rolled forward their positions. May New York cocoa was up $33, or 1.6 percent, at$2,117 a tonne by 1420 GMT, its highest since Nov. 29.
This extended gains from Wednesday, when prices surged as much as 3.8 percent, lifted by currency and speculative buying. Dealers pointed to a softer dollar and a positive technical picture as supportive factors on Thursday, as prices remained above the 100- and 200-day moving averages.
May London cocoa rose 12 pounds, or 0.8 percent, to 1,497 pounds a tonne, after hitting its highest since Nov. 30. Dealers said gains were dampened by producer pricing.
"Origin has been active and that's why London has been sluggish," the dealer said. "They have been taking advantage of the rise." Focus was on ample supplies, as port arrivals in the Ivory Coast showed no sign of slowing, raising concerns that this season's crop could be bigger than expected, dealers added.
Recent worries about dry weather in West Africa were subsiding as rains were expected to improve conditions in the coming days, dealers said. March raw sugar rose 0.17 cent, or 1.3 percent, to 13.57 cents per lb.
Dealers said market activity was dominated by funds rolling forward their short positions, which was supporting the March-May spread. They said there were few other bullish factors in the market and there was lacklustre demand for the March expiry coming up at the end of the month.
"Our expectation is that once the funds have finished, the spread will weaken, coming under pressure from potential deliverers among the trade given the lack of nearby demand," Nick Penney, senior trader at Sucden Financial, said in a note. May white sugar climbed $1.50, or 0.4 percent, to $358.60 a tonne.
May robusta coffee rose $2, or 0.1 percent, to $1,813 a tonne, after rising to its highest in nearly three months on Wednesday. March arabica coffee was up 0.15 cent or 0.1 percent to $1.2295 per lb.
Brazil will harvest a record 59.15 million 60-kg bags of coffee in the 2018/19 season, up from 48.17 million bags the prior year, Terra Forte said on Wednesday.