Cotton prices fell on Wednesday, weighed down by falling crude oil prices and as investors awaited more information on demand for the natural fiber from weekly export sales data due on Thursday.
Cotton contracts for December fell 0.66 cent, or 1.08 %, at 60.72 cents per lb at 01:39 pm EDT (1739 GMT), its second straight session fall.
It traded within a range of 60.63 and 61.36 cents a lb.
"There has been some follow through selling in the agriculture market, some weakness in the oil market that makes synthetic fiber really cheap and as far as this week's export sales are concerned, we have not seen any interest from China," said Jack Scoville, vice president at Price Futures Group in Chicago.
Oil prices retreated about 1% on Wednesday, extending the previous day's declines after Saudi Arabia said it would quickly restore full production following last weekend's attacks on its facilities and as US crude stockpiles rose unexpectedly.
Last week, the monthly US government World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) projected lower export sales, while the weekly report showed a cut in US exports.
"We haven't really heard anything on the trade war front since President Trump talked about some interim truce with China." Scoville added.
Trump said on Tuesday his administration could seal a deal on trade with China before the US presidential election, or an agreement could be reached the day after US voters go to the polls.
Prices have fallen over 17% so far this year on the backdrop of the protracted trade war between the United States and China, one the leading consumers of the natural fiber.
Total futures market volume fell by 16,197 to 18,037 lots. Data showed total open interest fell 2,617 to 230,592 contracts in the previous session.
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