Markets To Watch Today

Cocoa: Prices rose steadily for cocoa contracts on Friday, as word came that Brazil's cocoa bean crop has been battling witch's broom disease, a deadly fungi for raw cocoa beans. A collaborative effort between the privately held Mars Inc., maker of M&M's and Milky Way bars, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture has led to a successful spray product called Trichovab, a good fungus, to stamp out the witch's broom disease, without harming the cocoa pods. The September Cocoa contract closed up 8 cents per metric ton, at 1543.

Dollar: Investors await the Federal Reserve interest rate decision this week, expecting the move to be more hawkish than expected. Analysts say two factors will dominate this week's activity in the currency markets, including whether or not the Dollar will continue to trade within well established ranges against other major currencies, and how the weakening yen will continue, even with uncertainty of the timing of a rate increase by the Bank of Japan. The Dollar closed up 44 points, at 86.45.