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CSCE cocoa ends higher in thin trade

NEW YORK: CSCE cocoa futures settled firmer on Tuesday in a sluggish bean market trying to pick-up its idle state from the year 2000 holiday weekend.

"It's very quiet. There's no news right now," a dealer said.

Benchmark March cocoa rose $6 to finish at $836 a tonne, trading between $841-$823. May gained $5 to end at $861. July rose $5 to end at $888. Back months ended $7 firmer.

Bean prices were mixed due in light trade and volume in a market that struggled to find any direction as London started its first day of trading in 2000.

LIFFE cocoa pared losses to finish at the highs, after initially being pushed down by a strong pound, traders said.

Benchmark March ended at 562 pounds a tonne, down 9 pounds but at the top of a 10-pound range.

Technically, chartists pegged resistance for March CSCE cocoa at $859-$865, while nearby support was seen between $820-$815.

Volume traded reached an estimated 3,002 lots against the previous official 3,154 lots. Call volume touched 988 lots while put volume reached 190 lots.

In the physical market, Ivory Coast, deprived of budget aid from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank even before a Christmas coup, will struggle to pay wages and service debt if the army does not quickly reassure bilateral aid donors, bankers said on Tuesday.

The IMF, World Bank and the European Union froze aid to the top cocoa grower throughout 1999 due to corruption in the administration of ousted President Henri Konan Bedie.

The CSCE is a subsidiary of the New York Board of Trade.-Reuters