US cocoa futures dropped about 2 percent across the board Friday, knocked down by speculative selling here and producer hedging overseas as the new West African main crop readies for export, traders said.

The New York Board of Trade's active December cocoa contract lost $33 to settle at $1,382 a tonne, after trading from $1,371 to $1,403.

The contract opened weaker at about $1,400 before attracting more aggressive speculative selling when it plowed below the bottom trades over the past four sessions and triggered stop-loss orders.

Among other cocoa futures, March cocoa shed $31 to end at $1,422, while back month cocoa futures contracts declined $31 to $32.

Copyright Reuters, 2005