Cotton futures eased on Thursday, under pressure from a lacklustre weekly US government export sales report. The most-active December cotton contract on ICE Futures US closed down 0.05 cent, or 0.08 percent, at 64.67 cents a lb after paring the day's steeper losses on chart-driven buying.
Other commodities markets were mixed. The bellwether Thomson Reuters/Core Commodity CRB index hit its lowest level since February due to falling oil and metals prices. Fibre touched session lows following Thursday's US Agriculture Department (USDA) export sales report that revealed a sharp drop in foreign buyers' appetite during the week ended August 7, even as prices sank to a near five-year low of 62.02 cents a lb. The weekly export data showed the buyers booked the fewest bales of upland cotton against the 2014/15 crop since late June and included cancellations of 22,600 bales in top consumer China.
The second-month contract has tumbled 30 percent from March highs near 97 cents a lb, as expectations have risen that US supplies will surge at the same time that China's demand is projected to drop sharply due to a government policy overhaul in the 2014/15 crop year that began August 1.
"The sales were mediocre at best. People were hoping for better, which was reasonable considering prices," said Jack Scoville, a vice president at Price Futures Group in Chicago. The second-month dipped near technical support at the 10-day moving average of 64.10 cents a lb on before recouping much of Thursday's losses. The contract's 14-day relative strength index remained largely stable at 38.9, hovering above technically oversold conditions for a second straight session. Exchange inventories continued their slide to the lowest levels since late January. They dropped to 90,461 bales on Wednesday from 93,972 bales previously, the most recent ICE data showed.
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