NEW YORK, Feb 18 (Reuters) - U.S. cocoa futures jumped tofinish at the highest level in 14 months on Friday, onincreasing concern in top grower Ivory Coast where the incumbent leader announced some banks will be nationalized.
Arabica coffee extended gains to close at a 14-month top on tight global supplies, while raw sugar futures closed lower. The markets will be closed for President's Day on Monday.
2:00 PM SETTLE NET PCT LOW HIGH VOL
Sugar MAR 31.02 -0.24 -0.8% 30.80 31.49 29,106
Sugar MAY 28.42 -0.44 -1.5% 28.08 28.94 46,794
Cocoa MAR 3546 64 1.8% 3,468 3,540 36
Cocoa MAY 3499 61 1.8% 3,422 3,511 8,441
Coffee MAR 271.65 4.3 1.6% 266.45 274.00 545
Coffee MAY 273 4.15 1.5% 267.50 275.90 9,202
COFFEE
* May arabica coffee futures <KCc2> climbed 4.15 cents or 1.5 percent to settle at $2.73 per lb, the highest for the second position since May 1997.
* Second position closed the week up 7.1 percent, the biggest weekly gain in nine weeks.
* Arabica coffee open interest rose for the first time
after a five-day slide, falling 16 percent, while prices soared to the highest levels in nearly 14 years - ICE data.
* Tight supplies continued to lift the market as there was no relief expected in the near term - traders.
* Brazil is holding out for even higher prices before releasing stocks the government amassed a year ago - top coffee
official Roberio Silva. [ID:nN18220210]
COCOA
* Benchmark May cocoa futures <CCc2> rose $61 or 1.8 percent to settle at $3,499 per tonne, the highest close for the second position since December 2009. The session high reached $3,511.
* Second position May finished the weak up 3.8 percent,
* Ivory Coast will re-open branches of two major French banks on Monday after announcing it was nationalizing them to avert economic meltdown - government of disputed leader Laurent Gbagbo. [ID:nLDE71H1NQ]
* "People are starting to worry about the quality, what's trapped there. It's probably a pretty justifiable concern." -Jack Scoville, an analyst with the Price Futures Group in Chicago.
* Investor and commercial buying lifted prices - traders.
* Certified cocoa stocks at ICE jumped sharply to 3,510,715bags by Feb. 18, up 124,339 bags from the previous day - ICE
data.
Source: Reuters
