Cotton futures ended slightly easier Tuesday on speculative sales but the market is pinned in a tight band as players turn their attention to spring planting conditions in the US cotton belt, brokers said. The New York Board of Trade's May cotton contract eased 0.19 cent to close at 53.05 cents per lb, trading from 53 to 53.35 cents.
It was an inside day since the range was within Monday's 52.77 to 53.80 cents band. July shed 0.34 to 54.44 cents. The rest lost from 0.30 to 0.66 cent. The IntercontinentalExchange's NYBOT electronic market for cotton showed the May contract down 0.19 cent as well to 53.05 cents at 2:33 pm EDT (1833 GMT), moving from 52.97 to 53.35 cents.
"It's all locals," said Frank Weathersby, an analyst for Affinity Trading in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. He said most of the trade appear to be slipping away ahead of the holiday weekend and players are content to wait for further news on how plantings will proceed in American cotton farms.
Traders said they will look at the weekly crop progress reports being released by the US Agriculture Department and monitor soil moisture conditions across a cotton belt region ranging from Georgia and all the way out California. Cotton futures have been trapped in a wide band running from 52.50 to 54.50 cents, basis May, and the market has shown little sign of breaking out either way.
The market has digested the potential plantings report from the USDA, which projected 2007 US cotton plantings at 12.147 million acres, below trade expectations it will reach an average of 12.217 million and sharply down from 2006 cotton sowings of 15.276 million acres. Analysts said the market may still see a lot of switching between cotton, corn and soybeans until the USDA releases its planted acreage data on June 30.
Brokers Flanagan Trading Corp see resistance in May cotton at 53.30 and 53.75 cents, with support at 52.80 and 52.10 cents. Floor dealers said estimated final volume stood at 20,000 lots, from the prior open-outcry volume of 29,363 contracts. NYBOT said electronic trading volume Monday was at 13,070 lots. Open interest in the cotton market rose 589 lots to 233,241 lots as of April 2.