US cotton futures rose almost 1 percent on Wednesday, recovering about a quarter of the previous session losses, as technical buying helped the market rebound from oversold conditions. "There was really nothing much to pin cotton to over the last two days, except to say there were quite a bit of technical elements at play," said Sharon Johnson, senior analyst for cotton at First Capitol in Atlanta.
The key July cotton contract on ICE Futures US settled up 0.52 cent at 55.58 cents per lb, dealing from a low of 54.76 to a high of 55.75. It had fallen 2.05 cents in Tuesday's session. Volume traded in July cotton was at 5,896 lots. The contract for the new-crop December cotton rose 0.49 cent to finish at 59.06 cents. US cotton prices had jumped as much as 20 cents between mid-March and mid-May - a rally some traders had described as "excessive". But during the last two weeks, the market has declined more than it had risen.
The harsh drought and dry winds across the West Texas cotton plains could stunt the crop in that area and set the stage for a price rebound in coming weeks, analysts said. Total volume in ICE cotton at Tuesday's settlement stood at 16,799 contracts, from the previous tally of 5,168 lots, exchange data showed. Open interest fell 1,377 lots to 135,230 lots.