NYBOT cotton futures finished higher Thursday on speculative and options-related buying as the market unleashed a strong advance now that July has gone into its notice period, brokers said.
July cotton jumped 1.35 cents to close at 49.30 cents a lb, dealing between 47.90 and 50.85 cents.
Benchmark December cotton shot up 1.26 cents to settle at 54.45 cents, trading from 53.19 to 55.75 cents. The rest gained 0.13 to 1.45 cents.
"Its the first time the market had back-to-back up days in several weeks," said Mike Stevens of Swiss Financial Services in Mandeville, Louisiana, adding an improved technical situation enabled cotton to stage a modest advance.
Futures popped higher from the opening bell and even though key December briefly got down to unchanged, the combined effect of speculative and options-related buying pushed fiber contracts to positive ground, analysts said.
Analysts said the market may have also been buoyed somewhat by the steady pace of sales in the USDAs weekly export sales report.
USDA said old crop and new crop US net upland cotton sales hit 259,600 running bales (RBs, 500-lbs each), against trade belief it would range from 250,000 to 350,000 RBs.
Shipments of previously booked orders stood at 367,500 RBs, from trade expectations of 320,000 to 380,000 RBs and last weeks 386,100 RBs.
Separately, US annualised cotton consumption culled from the monthly US Census Bureau report reached 6.23 million (480-lb) bales. In the June USDA monthly supply/demand report, US cotton consumption was seen at 6.3 million bales.
"We should work our way higher in cotton and it is beginning to look like a short-term bottom may be in the market," an analyst said, referring in particular to the recent contract low in December of 51.77 cents.
Flanagan Trading Corp pegged support in December at 52.35 and 51.75 cents. It calculated resistance at 53.95 and 54.50 cents.
Floor dealers said estimated final volume amounted to 15,000 contracts, from Wednesday's tally of 22,429 lots. Open interest slid 3,097 lots to 71,890 lots as of June 23.