NEW YORK: ICE cotton futures edged down on Monday as a stronger US dollar countered support from robust demand and bets for lower ending stocks in this week’s federal supply-demand report.

Cotton contracts for May fell 0.29 cent, or 0.3%, to 87.47 cents per lb by 12:27 p.m. ET (1727 GMT). It traded within a range of 87.24 and 89.34 cents a lb.

The contract fell to its lowest since Feb. 8 at 85.67 cents on Friday.

The US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) weekly export sales report on Thursday showed exports of 377,400 running bales (RB) were up 29% from the previous week and 11% above the prior four-week average.

Market participants are now focused on the USDA’s monthly World Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report due on Tuesday.

Total futures market volume fell by 17,716 to 16,672 lots. Data showed total open interest gained 58 to 237,676 contracts in the previous session.

Certificated cotton stocks deliverable as of March 5 totalled 99,706 480-lb bales, unchanged from 99,706 in the previous session.