The New York Board of Trade's active March cocoa contract climbed $32 to settle at $1,501 a tonne, the highest since September 12, when it ended at $1,516.
"There was some good fund buying in the market today above $1,482, and then again above the $1,497 level. It looks like the manufacturers were chasing the market up as well," a trader said. "It's just a technical bounce." "There was just a lack of selling," said another trader.
Among other cocoa futures contracts, May gained $29 to end at $1,520 a tonne, while back months advanced $24 to $30.
Trading volume reached an estimated 11,942 lots, well above the 4,030 contracts officially tallied the previous session.
In London, the Liffe's benchmark March contract ended at 912 pounds a tonne, up 1.8 percent.