Benchmark arabica coffee futures finished down 2.5 percent Tuesday, depressed by speculators taking profits from recent five-year highs, traders and brokers said. The New York Board of Trade's most active May arabica contract fell 3.05 cents, or 2.54 percent, to settle at $1.1725 a lb., after trading in a range from $1.1625 to $1.1830. Front-month March declined 2.95 cents to finish at $1.1510, while deferred contracts slumped 2.60 to 2.95 cents.

Traders attributed the decline to market worries about managed-money funds holding record high long positions in arabica coffee futures.

Copyright Reuters, 2005