• by IPS Correspondents (london)
• Friday, November 25, 1994
• Inter Press Service

LONDON, Nov 25 (IPS) - Soft commodity markets were quieter towards the end of the end of the Thanksgiving holiday -- which closed exchanges in the United States.

White sugar put on a spurt on London markets and coffee lost ground before recovering slightly.

Robusta coffee futures on the London Commodity Exchange (LCE) hit choppy markets and receded until mid-week when traders felt that the commodity had hit the bottom of its current trading range.

"It was a dead cat bounce," said London futures brokers, GNI in its daily commodity report on Wednesday.

Coffee in London started the week by closing on the LCE Monday at 3,045 dollars a tonne for November delivery, from the previous close of 3,250 dollars a tonne, with January finishing at 3,075 dollars a tonne. Tuesday, it regained some of its track and ended at 3,080 dollars a tonne for November, 3,130 dollars a tonne for January.

Mid-week, coffee on the LCE lost ground rapidly in the morning session, moving down 60 dollars on the second position. When New York's CSCE exchange opened this dragged London down further, and the contract fell below 3,000 dollars a tonne on the first and second positions.

New York plummeted down more than seven cents on the opening before it hit some support. Traders report that the losses were due to commission house selling and fund liquidation.

Coffee came to rest in London finally on Wednesday at 2,835 dollars a tonne for November, 2,870 dollars a tonne for January in volatile trading conditions.

On Thursday, with New York closed, the trading floor at the LCE was calmer. London moved higher at midday as short-covering and industry buying kicked in and this pushed the second-month contract off the five-month low it hit Wednesday.

January climbed up 117 dollars and stood at 2,990 dollars a tonne at mid-day. The commodity bounced slightly as New York closed on higher values which injected a more buoyant mood on the LCE on Thursday.

At the close LCE coffee was trading at 2,944 dollars a tonne for November, 2,987 dollars a tonne for January. With the U.S. holidays still continuing Thursday, London was still less active than usual.

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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