The New York Board of Trade's active December cocoa contract rose $17, or about 1.3 percent, to settle at $1,368 a tonne, snapping three consecutive days of declines.
The December contract, which has its first notice day for delivery on November 15, was dealt from $1,352 to $1,371 inside the previous session's trading range.
"It was very quiet," said a trader. "Basically we saw a lot of rolling over the December positions into March, but for the most part we had a $19 range without much fanfare," he said.
March cocoa advanced $15 to conclude at $1,407, and back month cocoa futures climbed $14 to $16. By October 25, non-commercial positions in cocoa futures had been a net short 1,242 lots, meaning more speculative positions were betting on weakening prices.
The contract switches could reflect some short covering, traders said.
Meanwhile, West African farmers continue to harvest their 2005/06 main crops, which analysts and traders reckon could be big enough to fuel a global supply surplus.
"Right now it looks we will have a small surplus," said a trader, predicting world cocoa output in the 2005/06 season to exceed production by as much as 50,000 tonnes.
However, an uneasy calm hangs over top cocoa grower Ivory Coast which has been rocked by riots and massacres in the past few years following a 2002 civil war that divided the country.
Ivory Coast rebels, who refuse to recognise President Laurent Gbagbo, on Tuesday, accused international mediators of being biased against them and of mishandling a deadlocked peace process.
Traders estimated NYBOT futures trading volume fetched low 7,079 contracts, down from the official tally of 15,291 lots the previous session.
In London, the Life's benchmark December cocoa delivery settled at 819 pounds a tonne, up about 1.4 percent.