Cocoa Jumps as Speculators Buy on Dip

Cocoa futures jumped Friday as technical traders eyed bargains in a market that has been largely range-bound since May.

Cocoa for December delivery rose 2%, to $2,013 a ton, on the ICE Futures U.S. exchange, on track for its highest close since Aug. 8.

"Everybody is reading charts," said Frank Cholly, a broker at RJO Futures in Chicago. "Fundamentals are old news. Charts are what's happening right now."

The cocoa market has been in a slump all year as a result of large expected supplies out of Ivory Coast and Ghana, the world's two largest cocoa producers. In its quarterly update, released Aug. 31, the International Cocoa Organization estimated the 2016/2017 cocoa year would see an 18% year-over-year increase in production, to 4.7 million tons, and a 26.3% increase to stocks of cocoa.

Mr. Cholly said he is advising clients to buy futures if the market sinks back down to $1,840 a ton.

In other markets, raw sugar for October was up 0.8%, at 14.39 cents a pound; arabica coffee for December was up 1.6%, at $1.3985 a pound; frozen concentrated orange juice for November slumped 0.7%, to $1.497 a pound; and December cotton was off 0.2%, at 68.98 cents a pound.

Write to Julie Wernau at julie.wernau@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 15, 2017 11:46 ET (15:46 GMT)