Cocoa falls, posting longest slump since 2008, coffee declines
Monday, 1 February 2010
NEW YORK, Jan 31 (Bloomberg): Cocoa prices fell, posting the longest slump in 15 months, as the dollar's rally eroded demand for commodities as alternative investments. Coffee recorded the biggest weekly drop since September.
The greenback rose to a five-month high against a basket of major currencies after a report showed the US economy in the fourth quarter expanded at the fastest pace in six years. Cocoa was down for the sixth straight session.
"We had a pretty nasty break, and trends are probably down for a little bit," said Jack Scoville, a vice president at Price Group Inc in Chicago. "There seems to be a lot of liquidation selling in a lot of markets, and it seems like cocoa has gotten it, too."
Cocoa futures for March delivery dropped $76, or 2.3 per cent, to $3,184 a metric ton on ICE Futures US in New York. This week, the price tumbled 7 per cent, the most since mid-June.
Futures advanced 14 per cent in the past year, reaching a 30-year high in December, on concern that supplies will tighten from West Africa, the world's most-productive region.
Cocoa may fall in the next two weeks to as low as $3,100 should US equities retreat, Scoville said.
The greenback rose to a five-month high against a basket of major currencies after a report showed the US economy in the fourth quarter expanded at the fastest pace in six years. Cocoa was down for the sixth straight session.
"We had a pretty nasty break, and trends are probably down for a little bit," said Jack Scoville, a vice president at Price Group Inc in Chicago. "There seems to be a lot of liquidation selling in a lot of markets, and it seems like cocoa has gotten it, too."
Cocoa futures for March delivery dropped $76, or 2.3 per cent, to $3,184 a metric ton on ICE Futures US in New York. This week, the price tumbled 7 per cent, the most since mid-June.
Futures advanced 14 per cent in the past year, reaching a 30-year high in December, on concern that supplies will tighten from West Africa, the world's most-productive region.
Cocoa may fall in the next two weeks to as low as $3,100 should US equities retreat, Scoville said.