Noticias cacao 01 julio

DJ ICE Cocoa Review: Sep Rallies 3.3%; Fund Buys, Falling Dollar
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES


ICE cocoa futures for September delivery rallied 3.3% Thursday as a
struggling U.S. dollar encouraged speculative traders to buy the commodity.

Most-active September cocoa traded on ICE Futures U.S. climbed $97, or 3.3%,
to settle at $3,041 a ton. The thinly traded July contract gained $75, or 2.6%,
to end at $2,969 a ton.

A weak dollar is bullish for cocoa because it makes the commodity cheaper for
investors in other currencies.

"The dollar is getting slammed...and that'll do it," said Jack Scoville,
analyst and vice president of Price Futures Group in Chicago, referring to the
strength of cocoa.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down sharply earlier in the session,
"and everybody thinks we're going to hell in a handbasket again," he said.

Economic malaise was definitely on traders' minds Thursday as much
weaker-than-expected U.S. economic data caused equities and the dollar to fall.
Some analysts described the dollar's decline as a dynamic shift in the market,
owing to a string of worse-than-expected data and fears that the economy could
slide into a double-dip recession. Traders had previously bought the greenback
as a safe-haven play during economic weakness.

Economic reports suggested the economy is worse off then previously expected.

A 30% plunge in pending U.S. home sales in May and a surprising increase of
13,000 in U.S. weekly jobless claims caught traders off guard. A
worse-than-expected decline in the Institute for Supply Management's June
manufacturing index to 56.2, from 59.7 in May, added to the economic worries.

Earlier in the session, the DJIA fell to its lowest point since October 2009.
The index has since pared those losses, however.

The fact that cocoa had fallen nearly 7% this week from Monday's high of
$3,144 also made the commodity vulnerable to an upward correction, a broker
said.

Bullish news from cocoa giant Barry Callebaut AG (BARN.EB) helped lift cocoa.
The Swiss chocolate maker said Wednesday that sales grew 8% in the nine-month
period through May 2010, benefiting from its expansion into emerging chocolate
markets like eastern Europe, China, Mexico and Brazil.

Elsewhere, Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo is calling for an
investigation to whether his interior minister has been skimming state funds,
the Associated Press reported. The calls for an investigation could be viewed
as an attempt to further delay elections that have been needed to restore
legitimacy in the government since the country's Parliament mandate ran out in
2005.

Ivory Coast is the world's largest cocoa grower. Instability in the nation
has in the past stoked concern that the cocoa would not make it to export
channels and thus tighten supplies. The country is currently between crops,
however, with the main crop harvest not scheduled to begin until October.

Cocoa traded on NYSE Euronext's (NYX) Liffe for September delivery rose
GBP34, or 1.4%, to settle at GBP2,408 a ton.

ICE open interest--the number of contracts outstanding between traders at the
prior day's close--rose 2,395 contracts to total 120,587, exchange data showed.

Only 167 contracts remained open in nearby July futures ahead of its July 15
expiration.

Futures volume is estimated 11,255 lots, with 550 calls and 505 put options
traded, ICE data showed.

ICE Change Range
July $2,969 up $75 $2,840 - $2,969
Sep $3,041 up $97 $2,939 - $3,057

* ICE settlements in dollars per metric ton.