NY cocoa ends at 6-1/2-mth high, sugar at 6-wk low

Aug 8 (Reuters) - U.S. cocoa futures continued their upward
trek and closed at a 6-1/2-month high on Wednesday, on potential
weather concerns in the top growing region West Africa while
chart-based buy signals also helped lift the market.
Raw sugar futures moved in the other direction and closed at
the lowest level in six weeks, as crop weather improved in
Brazil and India, helping the market to drop for the seventh
straight day.
Arabica coffee drifted lower.

1:59 PM SETTLE NET PCT LOW HIGH CURRENT
CHNG CHNG VOL
Sugar OCT 21.09 -0.27 -1.3% 21.05 21.56 40,810
Sugar MAR 21.6 -0.27 -1.2% 21.56 22.04 21,232
Cocoa SEP 2463 6 0.3% 2,434 2,479 11,071
Cocoa DEC 2469 9 0.4% 2,439 2,481 13,979
Coffee SEP 170.5 -1.7 -1.0% 169.90 173.10 15,360
Coffee DEC 173.2 -1.55 -0.9% 172.60 175.75 12,835

TOTAL MARKET VOLUME
CURRENT 30D AVG 250D AVG
ICE SUGAR 84,493 101,857 95,915
ICE COCOA 30,277 22,340 21,579
ICE COFFEE 32,085 21,130 21,930

RAW SUGAR
* Benchmark October raw sugar futures fell 0.33 cent,
or 1.5 percent, to close at 21.09 cents a lb, the lowest
settlement since June 26.
* The October contract closed lower for a seventh straight
session, having settled below its 100-day moving average on
Monday.
* The key contract fell to a session low at 21.05 cents per
lb, just one tick above the 61.8 percent Fibonacci retracement
level.
* Market seen pressured by chart-based selling as well as
improved crop weather in the top two producers Brazil and India
- traders.
* Also weighing on the market was an upbeat assessment of
next year's production by India's sugar industry, despite a
drought, as it tried to avoid export curbs, which government
sources said New Delhi is contemplating as part of steps to
bolster domestic supplies.

ARABICA COFFEE
* September arabica futures dropped 2.15 cents, or
1.2 percent, to finish at $1.7050 per lb.
* The market dropped on pressure from the strong U.S. dollar
- traders.
* September/December spreading helped lift volume ahead of
the spot contract's first notice day on Aug. 23 - traders.
* ICE certified arabica stocks jumped by 9,939 lots to
1,803,751 lots on Aug. 7, the highest since October 2010, with a
heavy 68,640 lots pending grading - ICE data.

COCOA
* Benchmark December cocoa futures finished up $19,
or 0.8 percent, at $2,469 a tonne, their highest settlement for
the second position since late-January.
* The December contract hit a session high at $2,481.
* Market continued to feel support from the strong sterling
against the U.S. dollar as well as chart-based buy
signals, having climbed 11 percent in the past 2-1/2 weeks and
climbed well above the 200-day moving average - traders.
* The December contract rose to technically overbought
levels on the 14-day relative strength index.
* Active September/December spreading continued to boost
volume ahead of first notice day for September on Aug. 20 -
traders.
* The September/December spread settled at a $6 discount,
widening from Tuesday's $3 discount.
* The potential for El Nino weather conditions in West
Africa helped support the market - traders.
* Dealers kept a close eye on renewed violence in top grower
Ivory Coast where gunmen were said to have attacked a military
checkpoint in the main city Abidjan on Wednesday, adding to a
wave of deadly raids there.

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
Weather news Foreign exchange rates
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(Reporting by Marcy Nicholson in New York; Editing by
Marguerita Choy)