Cotton futures settled mixed Wednesday as the market again dawdled in the same range it has been for almost two weeks, with little sign it will break out soon, brokers said.
The New York Board of Trade's key March cotton contract eased 0.03 cent to end at 52.28 cents a lb, moving from 52.20 to 52.85 cents. The range was similar to the Tuesday band of 52.15 to 52.65 cents.
May rose 0.08 to 53.58 cents. Except for two contracts, the rest went up 0.15 cent.
"It's (been) a mirror image of the last few days," said Mike Stevens of brokers SFS Futures in Mandeville, Louisiana.
He said the benchmark March cotton contract has been pinned in a range between 52.05 and 53.45 cents, adding the contract seems content to stay in the lower end of its band.
Futures edged higher from modest speculative buying, ran into trade sales and then the same trade accounts provided support for cotton at the day's lows, dealers said.
Dealers said a close below 52.05 cents could push the March contract lower by around 1.00 cent and a similar rise is likely if March closes above 53.45 cents.
"The technical picture is considerably oversold now and trade interest in futures at these levels has been strong so funds may be content to simply hold the positions they now possess," said a daily report by brokers Flanagan Trading Corp.
Looking toward the US Department of Agriculture's weekly export sales report, cotton brokers said US cotton sales were likely to range from 200,000 to 350,000 running bales (RBs, 500-lbs each), from sales last week of 380,200 RBs.
The brokers said they expect US cotton shipments of previously booked orders to reach between 150,000 and 250,000 RBs, vs. the previous week's tally of 180,800 RBs.
Flanagan Trading 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 hit 8,500 lots, vs. the prior tally of 5,502 lots. Open interest rose 339 lots to 90,574 contracts as of Tuesday.