Coffee prices recover

Coffee prices recover

LONDON (Reuter): Robusta coffee futures recovered some lost steam to end firm but just off highs at midday yesterday, following short-covering and bargain hunting at the lows, traders said.

Selling from Vietnam and Indonesia, which had been prevalent in recent weeks, was said to have tailed off yesterday.

"It was due for a bounce...but New York will dictate if it is sustained," said one trader.

Coffee prices on Monday sank to their lowest levels since May 1994 after being hit by a bout of fund and origin-related selling.

Technical analysts had said indicators were oversold and a correction was likely.

"...The market is oversold and there is a chance for a strong correction...," Adrian Haylor, technical analyst at Sucden said earlier.

At midday the spot-month January contract was up US$4 at $2,002 a ton but off a high of $2,015 a ton.

The second-month March contract was up $3 at $1,890, below a high of $1,878 a ton. Volume on the exchange reached 2,004 lots and included 730 crosses.