New York cotton futures surge

Cotton futures surged to a strong finish Tuesday on suspected consumer and trade buying and the market may see some follow-through interest in the days ahead, brokers said.
"They came out of the woodwork," said Sharon Johnson, cotton expert for First Capitol Group in Atlanta, Georgia, in referring to the trade fixation buying by countries from Asia, which sparked the market's comeback. She said the buying was likely led by top cotton consumer China and several other Asian nations with sizeable textile industries.
The ICE Futures' May cotton contract climbed 1.11 cents to finish at 70.45 cents per lb, trading from 67.31 to 71.78 cents. The new-crop December cotton futures rose 1.87 cents to close at 80.99 cents, in a band from 77.08 to 82.07 cents.
Cotton futures had tumbled sharply recently due to heavy liquidation by investment funds, but the low level of prices sparked consumer interest, dealers said. The market's fall was also aggravated by a government plantings report which estimated US 2008 cotton sowings at 9.39 million acres, a 25-year low but near the top of trade estimates it would run from 8.8 to 9.5 million acres.
A firmer dollar on Tuesday also contributed to a recovery in the market, analysts said. Futures lost ground in early trade, but when trade fixation buying stepped up, the market reversed field and began rallying back, they said. "By late April, planting conditions in West Texas should be clearer and any problems, perceived or otherwise, will prompt a rally with 85 cents the first layer of resistance," Johnson said in a report.
Traders said the next focus of the cotton market will be on the weekly USDA crop condition reports that will be issued soon and should provide an idea how big next year's crop will be. Brokers Flanagan Trading Corp sees support in the May cotton contract at 70.20 and 69.10 cents, with resistance at 71 and 71.60 cents. Volume traded in the cotton market on Monday was at 38,126 lots, with open interest in the market slipping 2,085 lots to 268,675 contracts as of March 31, exchange data showed.