Cotton futures ended firmer Wednesday on late speculative buying and fiber contracts may well stay in a band given the dearth of fresh leads at the moment, brokers said.
The New York Board of Trade's key December cotton contract rose 0.18 cent to conclude at 52.29 cents a lb, moving from 51.65 to 52.35 cents. March shed 0.02 cent to 54.76 cents. One contract aside, the rest added from 0.05 to 0.15 cent.
Sharon Johnson, cotton expert for First Capitol Group in Atlanta, Georgia, said switch trade from players transferring positions out of the spot December contract were a feature of business in fiber contracts.
Open interest in December fell 1,349 lots to 71,718 contracts as of November 1 while interest in March went up 1,255 to 36,098 lots. December expires on December 7.
Fundamentally, dealers said cotton prices could be pressured this week by the weekly export sales report of the US Department of Agriculture especially if demand is not enough to provide support for futures.
Cotton brokers expect the USDA's weekly export report to show US cotton sales ranging from 150,000 to 250,000 running bales (RBs, 500-lbs each), against sales in last week's report of 152,600 RBs.
US cotton shipments of previously booked orders will likely range from 80,000 to 150,000 RBs, versus last week's 107,600 RBs as lingering bottlenecks in ports across the US cotton belt hinder shipments.
Futures lost ground from the opening bell from steady sales by speculators, but rebounded late to finish within a few points of its session peak, dealers said.
"There was some light covering at the end which was just enough to keep us over 52 cents," a broker said.
Brokers Flanagan Trading Corp sees resistance in the December cotton contract at 52.50 and 53.05 cents, with support at 52.05 and 51.30 cents.
Floor dealers said estimated final volume amounted to 14,200 lots, up a bit from Tuesday's tally of 14,155 lots. Open interest rose 232 lots to 116,387 contracts as of November 1.