INTL FCStone Daily Coffee Report

Arabica coffee futures for December delivery finished 20 points lower at 156.10 cents a pound. The session was slow and driven by short term traders. Volume reached 29,619 lots, including 8,055 switches. The active December – March switch remained at -3.50 cents. Reports of rains covering the major growing areas of Brazil and a strong dollar put some pressure on the prices . The rains covered Parana , Sao Paulo and Minas areas. During the next week, a cold front is expected that will bring more intense rains over Minas Gerais and Espiritu Santo, SOMAR said. The dollar set new eight-month highs helped by the euro selloff and the FED rate hike anticipated for the end of the year. In Brazil the real declined to USDBRL3.1660. During the week, Arabica prices gained 75 points. Speculative buying pushed the prices to new high settlement at 158.80 on Tuesday. A strong dollar capped the rally , that encountered robust resistance against the 160 level. The open interest added 6,323 lots to 197,794 , the high level since June 2.
London ends the day $31 higher to post a $79 gain on the week, the largest since the beginning of the year.
With the dollar firming overnight, pre-market sentiment was distinctly negative and the early action reflected that. A push into near term support around $2110 seemed to set the tone, although the board’s inability to generate fresh downside momentum meant roasters were happy to provide support scale down underneath $2100. Into the afternoon, the Nov/Jan switch began to attract attention, as it narrowed from -25 into -10 in the space of just one hour as spec short covering triggered buy stops ahead of first notice day at the end of this month. The structural strength prompted an upward swing to unfold in the outright as specs, who have been mostly operating out of a short book this week, began to cover en masse, ensuring that the market ended the session on the highs. Options remained active with 1500 lots of the Jan 2300 call being rolled into the May 2500 strike at $10 as the main event. Traders seemingly keen to maintain additional upside price protection for a little while yet.