NY cocoa tumbles, coffee ends lower, sugar rises

Feb 10 (Reuters) - U.S. cocoa futures closed down
nearly 4 percent on Friday, on follow-through weakness after
tumbling below the 40-day moving average. March/May spreading
remained heavy.
Arabica coffee also closed lower after a choppy session that
lacked firm direction, while raw sugar inched upward
All three markets continued to experience heavy volume.

1:59 PM SETTLE NET PCT LOW HIGH CURRENT
CHNG CHNG VOL
Sugar MAR 24.67 0.14 0.6% 24.17 24.73 42,284
Sugar MAY 23.8 0.09 0.4% 23.37 23.85 37,144
Cocoa MAR 2156 -80 -3.6% 2,140 2,226 12,132
Cocoa MAY 2161 -83 -3.7% 2,144 2,234 16,365
Coffee MAR 215.3 -0.7 -0.3% 214.45 218.00 17,163
Coffee MAY 217.4 -0.85 -0.4% 216.60 220.25 12,989

TOTAL MARKET VOLUME
CURRENT 30D AVG 250D AVG
ICE SUGAR 107,314 92,041 88,404
ICE COCOA 35,398 20,606 18,365
ICE COFFEE 35,010 19,016 19,309

SUGAR
* Key March raw sugar futures finished up 0.14 cent
at 24.67 cents a lb.
* On the week, the market is up 3 percent.
* Market crawls higher on buying by small investors -
brokers.
* Country Hedging Inc analyst Sterling Smith said attempts
by the market to advance were capped by fact that there is "lots
of sugar available" in the market.
* He said inability of March contract to get past and close
over 25 cents a lb may lead to a pullback toward 23 cents.

COFFEE
* Key March arabica coffee closed down 0.70 cent at
$2.1530 per lb.
* March finished the week down 0.3 percent.
* March/May position rolling continued to dominate the
choppy session- traders.
* March/May spread narrowed to close at 2.10 cents per lb,
from 2.25 cents on Thursday.
* First notice day for March is Feb. 21.
* Colombia's coffee production in January fell 41 percent
from a year earlier to 535,000 60-kg bags due to the continued
effects of heavy rains on the crop, the country's coffee
federation said on Thursday.
* La Nina, a sea surface phenomenon usually linked to heavy
rains and flooding in Asia-Pacific and South America and drought
in Africa, seems to have reached its peak and is expected to
fade between March and May - World Meteorological Organization.

COCOA
* May cocoa dropped $83, or 3.7 percent, to settle at
$2,161 per tonne.
* Benchmark May contract finished the week down 3.6 percent.
* Heavy March/May spreading continued ahead of the March
contract's first notice day Feb. 15 - traders.
* March/May spread narrowed to close at $5 per tonne versus
$8 on Thursday.
* Market fell along with the weak sterling against
the U.S. dollar and the lower commodity complex - traders.
* Market extended its losses on chart-based selling after
May dropped through the 40-day moving average Thursday -
traders.

(Reporting by Marcy Nicholson and Rene Pastor; Editing by Bob
Burgdorfer)