FINANCIAL MARKETS : Commodities : Coffee Futures Hit a 4-Month High

Coffee futures prices hit a four-month high Friday on renewed speculation that the International Coffee Organization will end its London meeting with an agreement to reimpose export quotas.

On other markets, livestock and meat futures declined; energy futures gained on heightened tensions in the Persian Gulf; grain and soybean futures were mixed, and precious metals advanced slightly.

Coffee futures gained on the Coffee, Sugar & Cocoa Exchange in New York after negotiators for producing and consuming nations agreed to extend their meeting, originally slated to end Wednesday, into Sunday.

The market surged on Thursday on indications that consumers had offered concessions on export quotas. On Friday, a rumor surfaced that Brazil, the largest producer nation, was willing to accept some cuts in its share of the market, said Debra Tropp, an analyst in New York with Prudential-Bache Securities.

“There is continued optimism that we will see some sort of agreement” on quotas, she said.

The coffee contract for December delivery broke through psychological resistance at $1.20 a pound at midday and reached $1.2065 before profit taking took the price back down.

The December contract settled at $1.1905, up 2.01 cents from Thursday’s close.

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