New York cotton finishes mixed

Cotton futures closed mixed on Monday after early weakness ran into solid trade and consumer buying at the day's lows, and brokers said fibre contracts may trade sideways while waiting for fresh leads. The spot May cotton contract fell 0.16 cent to end at 79.85 cents per lb, trading from 79.06 to 80.06 cents. It was an inside day since the contract traded within its Friday band of 79.04 to 81.26 cents.
Volume in the May contract hit 5,164 lots at 2:30 pm EDT (1830 GMT). Most-active July cotton edged up 0.01 cent to close at 81.60 cents but new-crop December eased 0.01 cent to close at 75.93 cents. Cotton was weaker early due to follow-through pressure from news that Goldman Sachs, one of the world's biggest commodity traders, faces fraud charges. Rains in Texas, which will plant over half of all cotton in the country, also piled pressure on the market along with the weak tone of outside markets like crude and grain futures.
Keith Brown, president of commodity firm Keith Brown and Co in Moultrie, Georgia, said the one thing notable about cotton is "that it is not getting hammered." Analysts said steady demand for cotton every time it dips below 80 cents has tended to keep any losses limited. The market is now waiting for the release later on Monday of the US Agriculture Department's weekly crop progress report to see if the pace of sowings has picked up.
Cotton market players were also pondering the effect of China's decision to gradually implement a floating exchange rate policy in the weeks ahead. The market also saw switch trade as players moved out of May before the contract goes into delivery on April 26.
Open interest in the May contract was down 7,679 lots to 25,315 lots as of April 16, with open interest in July up 2,600 to 103,311 lots. Brokers Flanagan Trading Corp sees resistance in the May contract at 80.35 and 81.40 cents, with support at 79.50 and 78.45 cents. Volume traded Friday reached 26,007 lots, against the previous tally of 40,570 lots, according to ICE Futures US Open interest in the cotton market was at 185,369 lots as of April 16, from the prior 189,917 lots, the exchange said.