US cocoa futures finished at a fresh 2-1/2 month low Thursday as rebels backing Alassane Ouattara appear on the verge of ousting incumbent Laurent Gbagbo. A victory by Ouattara is seen as bearish for cocoa because it would allow stalled exports to flow out of Ivory Coast, the world's leading producer of cocoa.
Arabica coffee and raw sugar futures slipped in quiet dealings. The benchmark May raw sugar contract fell 0.10 cent to finish at 27.11 cents per lb. Market seen consolidating in the area of 25 to 28 cents, basis the front month. May arabica coffee futures eased 0.65 cent to close at $2.6415 per lb. Key May cocoa futures slid $35 to finish at $2,952 per tonne, the lowest settlement for the spot contract since January 11. The cocoa market ended the first quarter up 2.73 percent from end-2010.