Coffee sharply increases

Coffee sharply increases

LONDON (Reuters): LIFFE robusta coffee raced higher yesterday morning as worries over Indonesia's worsening social unrest and market talk of Vietnamese and Indonesian origin defaults sparked speculative buying.

"These talks are adding to the nearby (supply) stress," said one trader.

"There are also some suggestions that the problems in Indonesia may well be something to do with it," the trader added.

Benchmark July ended $41 up at a session's high of $1,915 per ton, the highest in three weeks, after filling chart gap/resistance at $1,899-$1,910.

Traders pegged the mid-April highs of $1,959 as the next immediate upside goal.

Third-month September also found some early buying support. It finished $47 higher at $1,849.

Spot May hit a new 11-month high of $2,104 but stood $60 up at $2,095 at the break. May's premium to July widened further to $180 by midsession from $159 at Wednesday's finish.