All Liffe softs markets closed at 1230 GMT in half day trading on Friday and are not scheduled to open again until Tuesday, Jan. 4.
"We've seen some more origin hedging pressure it a little bit, but it's been spreads which have really brought the volume levels up," one trader said.
Spot March cocoa closed three pounds up at 844 a tonne on 1,612 lots, having traded a 843-835 range, while May closed one pound higher at 852 and on 1,343 lots.
Further out, contracts closed between three pounds weaker and two pounds up.
Dealers said the market appeared comfortable around current levels, since recent weakness had unearthed reasonable manufacturing interest and helping March to consolidate around the 840 level.
London broker Sucden pegged support for March at 835, at 826 and at 802, while resistance was seen at 849, 869 and at 881.
The NYBOT cocoa market is shut on Friday, Dec. 31, for the New Year holiday.
The New York Board of Trade's front-month March cocoa contract rose $8 to finish Thursday at $1,547 a tonne, after moving in a quiet $30 range, between $1,540 to $1,570. US trading resumes on Monday.
COFFEE END MAINLY DOWN: A light sprinkling of speculative, trade and origin sales dragged London coffee prices to a mainly weak finish on Friday in a market weighed by New York's overnight losses, dealers said structural trade lifted volume, they added. All Liffe softs markets closed at 1230 GMT in half day trading on Friday and will re-open on Tuesday, Jan. 4.
Most-active March coffee closed $8 lower at $759 a tonne on 2,906 lots after trading between $758 and $747.
However, spot January, the only contract to close up on the day, finished $7 higher at $737 on 2,147 lots after a late flurry of short-covering. A total 7,106 lots were traded.
"We've seen some hedge-related selling, maybe some speculative selling, but we were due down around $20 in reaction to New York anyway, so we're just paying our dues," one dealer said.
New York arabica coffee futures pulled back on Thursday, as profits were taken in thin markets on the last trading day of the year, dealers said.
The bellwether NYBOT March> contract slid 4.20 cents to finish at 103.75 cents a lb, trading from 103 to 108.10 cents. NYBOT arabicas are not trading on Friday in observance of New Year's Day, which falls on Saturday. Trading there resumes on Monday.
SUGAR ENDS QUIETLY HIGHER ON TRADE BUYING: Liffe sugar futures closed a fraction higher on the last trading day of 2004 after a curtailed session that saw only limited buying from the trade, dealers said.
Analysts said the London market was still consolidating after Wednesday's gains, when fund buying in good volume powered prices to levels not seen since mid-October.
All Liffe softs markets closed at 1230 GMT in half day trading on Friday and will reopen on Tuesday, Jan. 4.
"Prices held up, but frankly, after New York's performance (on Thursday) there was little to go on," a broker said.
Spot-month Liffe March whites finished 50 cents up at $259.30 a tonne on 520 lots after trading between $259.50 and $257.80. A total 631 lots were traded.
In New York, raws closed almost unchanged Thursday as the market stayed near an 11-week high ahead of a long holiday weekend, and the sweetener was seen pushing up on bullish fundamentals in 2005, brokers said.
NYBOT raws are not trading on Friday in observance of New Year's Day, which falls on Saturday. Trading resumes on Monday.
The New York Board of Trade's March raw sugar contract eased 0.02 cent to end at 9.04 cents a lb., moving from 8.99 to 9.08 cents.
In fundamentals, Pakistan has finalised a plan to import 200,000 tonnes of raw sugar in 2005 - its first imports for four years - to cover supply shortages and check rising domestic prices, Ashfaq Hassan Khan, an adviser to the country's Finance Ministry, told Reuters on Friday.