Cotton futures settled mixed Thursday as the trade appeared to be gearing up for the release of a key government production report next week, brokers said. New York Board of Trade's key December cotton contract settled down 0.16 cent at 53.75 cents a lb after trading from 53.35 to 54.70 cents. March lost 0.09 to 55.40 cents, with the rest flat to up 0.30 cent.
Jobe Moss, an analyst for brokers and merchants MCM Inc in Lubbock, Texas, said steady fund support and the absence of any sizeable harvest pressure has enabled cotton to edge higher.
He added most players seem to be adjusting their positions before the release next Tuesday of the US Department of Agriculture's monthly supply/demand report.
"The fund buying kept it steady for most of the day, but the locals ran out near the close," a dealer said.
Most brokers expect the USDA to increase its estimate of the US cotton crop to around 22.5 million (480-lb) bales. Last month, the USDA pegged the US crop at 22.28 million bales. There was little, if any, reaction to the weekly USDA export sales report.
USDA said US cotton sales hit 305,800 running bales (RBs, 500-lbs each), up on trade belief it would range from 200,000 to 275,000 RBs.
US cotton shipments of previously booked orders hit 159,200 RBs, below trade expectations it would range from 200,000 to 250,000 RBs.
"The sales were pretty good, but people are thinking of that (USDA) report so it did not draw a lot of attention," a trading house analyst said.
Brokers Flanagan Trading Corp sees resistance in December cotton at 54.10 and 54.50 cents, with support at 53.25 and 52.65 cents.
Floor dealers said estimated final volume rose to 14,000 lots from Wednesday's tally of 7,156 lots. Open interest rose 130 lots to 110,521 contracts as of October 5.
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