ICE cotton futures fell on Thursday as the dollar strengthened, while a fall in the weekly export sales report from the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) added to the downbeat sentiment. The most-active cotton contract on ICE Futures US July settled down 0.69 cent, or 0.87 percent, at 78.27 cents per lb. It traded within a range of 77.77 and 79.04 cents per lb.
Prices fell 0.7% this week, its worst weekly decline in two months.
"The dollar is up and it is the end of the week. It was an opportunity for those who were long in the market this week to get out and reposition themselves for Monday," said Jon Marcus, president of the Lakefront Futures and Options brokerage firm in Chicago.
The dollar against a basket of other currencies gained on the back of strong retail sales data. A stronger greenback makes commodities priced in dollars, such as cotton, more expensive for holders of other currencies.
The USDA reported net sales of 217,600 running bales (RB) for 2018/2019 which were down 25% from the previous week and 9% lower from the prior 4-week average, for the week ended April 11.
The slide in USDA's weekly export data was a "force pin for people making a decision to just get flat for the weekend", Marcus said. The United States won a World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling on Thursday against China's use of tariff-rate quotas for rice, wheat and corn, which it successfully argued limited market access for US grain exports. ICE Futures US soft agricultural commodity futures and options markets will be closed on Friday for Good Friday holiday.
Total futures market volume fell by 20,876 to 18,654 lots. Data showed total open interest gained 336 to 212,845 contracts in the previous session.
Certificated cotton stocks deliverable as of April 17 totalled 57,655 480-lb bales, up from 55,517 in the previous session.
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