Cotton futures finished firmer on Thursday on fund short-covering in tepid business as players looked toward the release of a key government plantings report due next week, brokers said. The new-crop December cotton contract gained 0.67 cent to settle at 57.49 cents per lb, moving from 56.32 to 57.88 cents.
Volume traded in the December contract was at 5,379 lots at 2:39 pm EDT (1839 GMT). The July cotton contract rose 0.73 cent to end at 53.02 cents. "Everybody's being cautious," said Frank Weathersby, an analyst for brokers Affinity Trading in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. He said the key December cotton contract seemed to be taking aim at a technical target just above 58 cents, but dealings were modest on the whole.
Analysts said the market is looking ahead to next Tuesday's annual planted acreage report from the US Agriculture Department. The trade will be looking closely at estimates for Texas, the top cotton growing region of the country, and the abandonment rate for farmers battling weather problems there. USDA said total US cotton weekly export sales reached 262,800 running bales (RBs, 500-lbs each) against trade forecasts of only 100,000 to 200,000 RBs.
US cotton export shipments were reported by the USDA at 284,900 RBs, 500-lbs each, versus trade expectations it would range from 250,000 to 300,000 RBs. Technical dealers said support in the December contract would be at 55 and resistance should lie over 58 cents. Total volume traded Wednesday reached 8,393 lots, versus the previous tally of 10,520 contracts, exchange data showed. Open interest in the cotton market was at 105,969 lots as of June 24, from the previous count of 106,194 contracts, ICE Futures US said.