NY cocoa ends firm but off 4-1/2-mth high, sugar eases

Aug 3 (Reuters) - U.S. cocoa futures closed firm on Friday,
but pared gains after hitting the highest level in 4-1/2 months
as bullish options dealing, strong charts and the firm sterling
encouraged heavy buying.

Raw sugar futures settled down a shade on improved
production expectations in the Northern Hemisphere, while
arabica closed higher.

2:31 PM SETTLE NET PCT LOW HIGH CURRENT

CHNG CHNG VOL
Sugar OCT 22 -0.08 -0.4% 21.78 22.14 36,905
Sugar MAR 22.44 -0.06 -0.3% 22.24 22.53 14,444
Cocoa SEP 2398 20 0.8% 2,361 2,436 14,474
Cocoa DEC 2411 15 0.6% 2,376 2,444 8,194
Coffee SEP 173.8 1.15 0.7% 171.30 174.20 7,419
Coffee DEC 176.55 1.25 0.7% 173.95 176.90 4,942

TOTAL MARKET VOLUME

CURRENT 30D AVG 250D AVG
ICE SUGAR 64,034 110,090 96,213
ICE COCOA 27,886 21,347 21,645
ICE COFFEE 14,764 21,986 22,048

RAW SUGAR

* Benchmark October raw sugar futures inched down
0.04 cent to finish at 22.00 cents a lb, their lowest settlement
since July 5.

* For the week, the spot contract closed down 2.3 percent.

* Market bucked the day's firm trend in commodities as
dealers viewed the recent rally as overdone with expectations
for increasing supplies from crops in the Northern Hemisphere
and as harvest progresses in top grower Brazil - traders.

* India's sugar futures hit a new contract high for the
third straight session on Friday on strong consumer demand amid
fears that the ongoing drought could sharply trim production in
the next crop year, beginning on Oct. 1.

* Total open interest fell by 2,935 lots to 671,377 lots by
Aug. 2 - ICE data.

ARABICA COFFEE

* September arabica futures rose 2.15 cents, or 1.3
percent, to close at $1.7380 per lb.

* For the week, the contract was virtually flat.

* Market lifted by the weak U.S. dollar against a basket of
major currencies - traders.

* The strong commodity complex also provided some spillover
support - traders.

* Total open interest dropped by 2,404 lots to 135,851 lots
on Aug. 2 - ICE data.

* Differentials for many arabica coffee beans sitting in
U.S. warehouses were flat to lower this week, encouraging many
growers to keep their product off the cash market and sell to
ICE Futures U.S. - U.S. importers.

COCOA

* Benchmark September cocoa futures closed up $29, or
1.2 percent, at $2,398 a tonne, having touched $2,436, the
highest since mid-March.

* For the week, the spot contract closed up 2.9 percent.

* Chart-based buying helped lift the market as it climbed
for seven days out of the past eight sessions, moving higher
above the 200-day moving average - traders.

* Sterling jumped against the U.S. dollar, providing
additional support - traders.

* Options-related buying helped lift the market with active
call buying at $2,400 on September options, which expired at the
end of the session, and at $2,700 in December - traders.

* This buying at higher levels caused dealers to speculate
that the market will continue to move up - traders.

For related news and prices, click on the codes in brackets:
Sugar futures/spreads Sugar cash prices
Coffee futures/spreads Coffee cash prices
Cocoa futures/spreads Cocoa cash prices

RELATED NEWS AND OTHER TOPICS
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All cocoa news All softs news
All commodities news Softs diary
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(Reporting by Marcy Nicholson in New York; Editing by Dale
Hudson)