India pepper up as traders cover short positions

MUMBAI Dec 29 (Reuters) - India pepper futures ended higher on Monday on short-covering after trading weak all day, analysts said.

Pepper prices have fallen close to six percent last week on demand worries and continuous new crop arrivals.

Prices were weak all day as low export demand coupled with fresh arrivals weighed, Kunal Shah, an analyst with Nirmal Bang Commodities said, adding the trend for the near-term was bearish.

The market will stay weak in the short-term as international demand will only revive from mid-January, after the holiday season, analysts said.

Pepper exports in the April-November period fell 33.2 percent to 16,850 tonnes as demand took a hit from the global financial crunch. [nBOM420288]

Spot prices in the Kochi market fell over 115 rupees to 10,249 rupees per 100 kg. Following are the closing prices of pepper futures in rupees per 100 kg on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Ltd. <0#NPE:> Contract Reuters code

Price Change in %

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Jan NPEF9 10,013 1.13

Feb NPEG9 10,023 1.11

(Reporting by Nandita Bose; editing by Harish Nambiar)