Liffe's September contract traded between $650 and $659 a tonne before closing $6 down at $650. The contract's first notice day is on September 1.
Second-month November finished at $676 a tonne, $5 weaker after dealing in a $674-685 range.
"London just doesn't seem to want to go up...It was disappointing New York wasn't able to make any gains because that might have dragged London up, even if it would only have gone up kicking and screaming," said a trader.
November needed to overcome resistance levels at about $700 to gain momentum, traders and analysts said.
"You might get some short covering by funds over that level but the only way London is going to go higher is if New York prices move up," the same dealer said.
Total turnover for the day was 23,032 lots, with 11,188 lots changing hands on September and 10,688 on November.
COCOA FLAT: Liffe cocoa futures finished almost flat on Friday amid paltry volume despite earlier expectations of a repeat of Thursday's last-minute show of strength, dealers said.
London's benchmark December was three pounds higher at 1,007 pounds a tonne at the close, near the top of the day's 981-1,009 pound range.
Volume stood at 3,673 lots from a total tally of 7,008.
"We saw the market push up to 1,009 amid some light local interest but then we started to see a bit of a sell-off," said a dealer.
"I would have expected more volume but there was no fund activity to be seen," he added.