NY cocoa rebounds to end up on strong sterling
NEW YORK, Oct 13 (Reuters) - U.S. cocoa futures settled firm on Monday, correcting from Friday's six-month low, on the strong sterling against the dollar and as international bailout plans boosted global stock markets, dealers said.
* Benchmark December <CCZ8> closed $33 higher at $2,277 per tonne, moving from $2,270 to $2,310.
* In after-hours trade at 12:14 p.m. EDT (1614 GMT), December futures were up $32 at $2,276 per tonne. ICE cocoa futures trade until 3:15 p.m. EDT.
* December volume a light 4,239 lots at the same time.
* Strong support from the pound <GBP=>,which rallied against the U.S. dollar - traders.
* Short-covering in thin dealings also seen giving a boost - traders.
* A global push by governments to bail out banks helped international stock markets rebound amid the worst financial crisis in 80 years, providing spillover support to commodity markets.
* `The markets are really kind of questioning whether we've seen the worst and, as such, maybe this will result in a calming influence. However, I am of the opinion that I still don't want to sell volatility,` - Jurgens Bauer of jurgensbauer.com.
* The benchmark contract closed 33 percent below the spot contract's 28-year peak in early July at $3,385.
* The Reuters-Jefferies CRB index <.CRB>, which tracks 19 commodity futures contracts, was up about 2 percent.
* Cocoa farmers in top grower Ivory Coast expected the recently started 2008/09 main crop to pick up strongly in November, after favorable weather last week combining light rain showers with long sunny periods. [ID:nLD343947]
* Cocoa arrivals at ports in Ivory Coast reached around 34,000 tonnes by Oct. 12 in the 2008/09 season, compared with 70,173 tonnes in the same period of the previous season - exporters estimates. [ID:nLD320855]
* The speculative net long position fell 47 percent to 4,235 lots by Oct. 7, from 7,936 lots - Commodity Futures Trading Commission data Friday.
* Scattered showers and thunderstorms continuing westward across West Africa's cocoa belt, with 0.1 to 0.8 inch of rain expected on Monday. Similar conditions seen through Friday - DTN Meteorlogix.
* A heavy 18,767 lots traded on Friday, up from 7,613 lots Thursday - ICE data.
* Open interest crept down 5 lots to 116,579 lots as of Oct. 10 - ICE.
Source : Reuters