London cocoa falls on Ghana selling, seen weak

LONDON, April 24 (Reuters) - London cocoa futures extended the previous session's decline on Thursday as origin selling put pressure on prices, dealers said.

Ghana had been an active seller in recent and Ivory Coast might also have been in the market to hedge the mid-crop, although some considered such selling as premature.

By 1126 GMT benchmark July had lost seven pounds to trade at 1,213 a tonne on 287 lots out of a thin total market turnover of 626 lots, excluding Against Actuals.

Front May moved just 88 lots and fell to 1,202 pounds, off six. It moved between 1,195 and 1,206.

The May/July spread narrowed to an 11 pound discount from a 15 pound discount at the close in the previous session.

"There is trouble to move any higher from here because of the perceived hedging from Ghana and possibly from Ivory Coast, although for the mid-crop it is a little bit premature maybe," a dealer said.

"But it is the perceived threat that the origins have more selling to do...that is keeping the markets in check," the dealer added.

Dealers noted the large short position held by funds and speculators in the New York market and said any potential rally was likely to come from short covering activity.

"It's big the short position in New York what is going to be the catalyst for any significant rally in London as well," the dealer said.

Mid-crops from West Africa and a healthy Indonesian crop were expected to put pressure on both markets.

"The market is still under a bearish feeling," a trader said, noting bearish figures from UK broker ED & F Man on Wednesday.

"With the short-lived rally we saw on Tuesday, I think the market has shown it doesn't have the strength to pick the bids up and move higher," the trader added.