Cotton futures ended higher on Thursday on buying by small speculators in dull dealings and the market may only perk up when the US harvest gets going next month, analysts said. New York Board of Trade's key open-outcry December contract closed up 0.25 cent at 58.61 cents per lb after trading from 58.26 to 58.80 cents.
March rose 0.23 to 61.91 cents and distant months increased 0.15 to 0.40 cent. The IntercontinentalExchange NYBOT electronic cotton market showed December up 0.32 cent at 58.68 cents at 2:32 pm EDT (1832 GMT), moving from 58.26 to 58.85 cents.
"It's the dog days of summer," said Sharon Johnson, cotton expert for First Capitol Group in Atlanta, Georgia. She said business has been slow this week and there seems no reason why it should not end quietly tomorrow as well. Sharp gyrations in the grains pits of Chicago or in other commodity markets did not inspire much activity in cotton, Johnson and other dealers said, with investors seemingly content to sit on the sidelines and see how market conditions develop in the weeks and months ahead.
There was also no discernible reaction in cotton futures to the US Agriculture Department's weekly export sales report which showed total US cotton sales at a robust 400,500 running bales (RBs, 500-lbs each), from 395,200 RBs in last week's report.
US cotton shipments of previously booked orders hit 324,900 RBs, from last week's 324,500 RBs. Broker Flanagan Trading Corp put support for December delivery at 58.20 and 57.50 cents, with resistance at 59.20 and 59.80 cents. Open-outcry volume stood on Wednesday at 5,237 lots while screen business reached 11,640 lots. Open interest was at 197,083 lots as of August 21, down 2,037 lots from the previous session.
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