NYCE cotton futures settled easier Monday on modest trade and speculative sales as the market pulled back after posting gains in the past five sessions, brokers said.
May cotton fell 0.92 cent to finish at 67 cents a lb, ranging from 66.80 to 68.85 cents. July slumped 0.72 to 68.40 cents. Except for one contract, back months declined 0.25 to 0.70 cent.
Sharon Johnson, cotton expert for Frank Schneider and Co Inc in Atlanta, said futures had "run up too much" and were due for a pullback after rising steadily.
Futures jumped on follow-through speculative buying to hit its session highs, but trade sales capped the advance and speculative liquidation from players who cashed in their gains led the market south, dealers said.
An attempt to fill a gap in May running from 66.40 to 66.90 cents was only partially successful as trade and commercial buying trimmed the contract's losses, they said.
Dealings remained modest though as most players appear to be gearing up for the release of a slew of reports this week and next.
Traders said they will look at the weekly USDA export sales report and the monthly US annualised cotton consumption data from the US Census Bureau this week.
More importantly, they will look toward the annual USDA planting intentions report on March 31 to confirm belief that sky-high soybean prices has prompted American farmers to switch acreage to beans and away from cotton.
Meanwhile, the market took note of China's Agriculture Ministry aiming to cap cotton output at 5.8 million tonnes this year as it wants farmers to plant more grain to offset years of falling production. The Asian nation is the world's leading consumer of cotton.
Brokers Flanagan Trading Corp. sees resistance for the May cotton contract at 67.50 and 68 cents with support at 66.80 and 66 cents.
Floor traders said estimated final volume reached 8,500 lots, up from Friday's count of 7,211 lots. Open interest fell nine lots to 87,494 lots as of March 19.
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