London sugar ends weaker

London white sugar futures closed lower on speculative profit-taking and spread activity on Monday, weighed by selling on the New York raw sugar market, traders said.
Benchmark March settled down $10.30 or 2.3 percent at $441.00 per tonne in volume of 6,443 lots, after trading from $438.00 to $453.50. May concluded down $7.50 or 1.6 percent to $453.40 per tonne in volume of 4,045 lots.
"There has been a lot of rolling of March-May, and a lot of AAs (Against Actuals - a form of hedging)," one trader said. Traders noted strong trade and speculative selling, with some market players hoping to buy back positions later.
COCOA HIGHER: London cocoa futures ended near an earlier two-week high on Monday, boosted by speculative buying and a slowdown in producer selling, dealers said. "Origin selling has been around but that faded and gave people the confidence to buy," one dealer said.
Liffe's most-active March contract closed up 7 pounds at 889 pounds a tonne, just below an earlier two-week high of 890 pounds. Dealers noted the market had moved near the top of its recent 849-894 pound band on March but anticipated stiff resistance around the top of the range. Total volume was 8,931 lots, boosted by March/December spread trading and against actuals business.
COFFEE FALLS: London robusta coffee futures fell nearly 6 percent on Monday to the lowest levels in more than three weeks with losses fuelled by speculative long liquidation and a sharp decline in New York, traders said.
Most-active March ended down $69 or 5.4 percent at $1,216 a tonne after earlier hitting $1,211, its lowest price since January 12. Dealers said sell-stops were triggered when the market broke through key support in the $1,247 to $1,249 area on March. Volume totalled 21,479 lots.