US cotton futures closed with small gains for the front-month contract, after reaching a 10-day peak, but seesawed around unchanged for most of Monday with trade volume extremely thin, traders said. Cotton for March delivery on ICE Futures settled 0.07 cent higher at 46.25 cents per lb, after moving in a narrow range between 46.04 and 47.04 cents.
The high was last reached on December 18, but traders said it was reached in such light business that it did not necessarily reflect cotton's fair value. "There's no volume. Almost no options. I think most people have closed up their books for the year. People who have to trade are trading it, but I don't think there's any interest from the speculative community to speak of," said Jobe Moss of MCM Inc in Lubbock, Texas.
The rest of the board all ended down, with prices finishing from 0.19 to 0.29 cent lower. Some players bought the dips while others grabbed small profits on the upside keeping cotton prices pinned in a tight trading band throughout the session.
Volume in the March contract came to 3,284 lots, versus Friday's tally of 1,588 lots. ICE's total cotton volume for Friday totalled 2,005 lots, exchange data showed. Open interest in the cotton market fell by 245 lots to 123,934 lots.