Cotton futures were little changed on Friday, bouncing off chart-based support after initially extending the prior session's weakness to multi-week lows on falling demand. The most-active July cotton contract on ICE Futures US inched up 0.16 cent, or 0.2 percent, to settle at 90.45 cents a lb after hitting a 2-1/2-week low of 90.02 cents.
For the week, the second-position contract dropped 2.4 percent, its biggest weekly tumble since late October 2013.
Weekly US government export data released on Wednesday weighed on the market having indicated that high prices had crimped demand. The news eased concerns over tight nearby supplies in the world's top exporter, which had lifted prices to two-year highs in late March.
Also adding pressure this week was the attempt by China's government to shrink its growing inventories with a plan to switch to a subsidy program in its key growing region this year. This move is widely expected to significantly dampen demand in the world's top consumer in the 2014/15 crop year that begins on August 1.
"People had been selling the market down mostly because of some demand worries," said Jack Scoville, broker with Price Futures Group.
"And the Chinese government is getting ready to start offering their own stocks, the stuff they've been accumulating over the years."
The spot May ICE contract settled unchanged at 89.02 cents per lb, after touching a five-week low at 88.63 cents. The contract remained below the 40-day moving average at 89.45 cents for a second straight day.
The contract briefly turned higher after failing to drop below technical support at 88.45 cents per lb and attracting buyers.
"The weather really isn't conducive to planting in West Texas. They could use a shot of rain," Scoville said, about one reason the market turned higher. Texas is the biggest cotton growing region in the United States.
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