Cotton futures closed softer Monday on modest speculative sales after the holiday break as the market showed little inclination to break out of its recent trading band, brokers said.
The US cotton market was shut Thursday and Friday for the US Thanksgiving holiday.
The New York Board of Trade's key March cotton contract fell 0.46 cent to end at 52.15 cents a lb, trading from 52.10 to 53.50 cents. May shed 0.50 to 53.40 cents. One contract aside, the rest slipped 0.10 to 0.65 cent.
Mike Stevens, an analyst for brokers SFS Futures in Mandeville, Louisiana, said the benchmark March cotton contract is pinned between 52.05 and 53.45 cents.
A fall below 52.05 cents could drag March down another 1.00 cent and a finish above 53.45 should encourage the contract to rise by 1.00 cent as well, he said.
Fundamentally, the market is seeing fairly robust demand for the fiber and monitoring the near completion of the US cotton harvest, which should be done in a few more weeks.
Steady demand could be seen in the weekly export sales report of the US Department of Agriculture.
USDA said US cotton sales amounted to 380,200 running bales (RBs, 500-lbs each), against sales last week of 242,300 RBs. US cotton shipments of previously booked orders amounted to 180,800 RBs, down from last week's 212,800 RBs.
Cotton futures opened within a few points of unchanged as trade buying was able to absorb early sales from speculators. Once March raced past 53.16 cents, computer-generated buy orders lifted it to equal last week's high of 53.50 cents, dealers said.
Trade sales capped the market and liquidation by small speculators nudged cotton into negative territory, they said.
Brokers Flanagan Trading Corp sees resistance in the March contract at 52.45 and 53.20 cents, with support at 52 and 51.20 cents. Floor dealers said estimated final volume amounted to 8,000 lots, down from the prior tally of 6,655 lots. Open interest fell 152 lots to 88,966 contracts as of November 23.