Cotton prices closed lower on Thursday as technical buying ran out of steam after US data revealed weekly export sales dropped by a third and as grains remained under pressure. The US government data raised fears among some investors that recent stronger demand from abroad, particularly from top producer and consumer China, has started to wane. Weekly sales have increased steadily over the past six weeks.
In Thursday's data, net upland sales in the week to December 6 fell 32 percent to 283,900 running bales from the prior week, with almost half heading to China. It was the smallest sales since the November 2 data and was a sharp drop from last week's number covering the week to November 29 when sales hit 415,700 bales, their highest since mid-June. China bought over 254,000 bales.
"I'm not seeing a number to accelerate the buying," said Sterling Smith, softs market specialist at Citigroup, of the data. Retracing half the ground gained over the previous two days, the most-active March contract on ICE Futures US settled down 0.56 cent, or 0.75 percent, at 74.56 cents per lb. It hit technical resistance around 75.2 cents per lb.
Prices rallied to six-week highs on Wednesday as speculative investors piled back into the fibres market after a technical breakout above 74.5 cents. "As we get close to the holiday and people get nervous, that will lead to a little bit of selling. Also there was weakness in the corn and soybean market." Wheat prices sank to fresh five-month lows on Thursday, while corn dropped for a sixth straight day on concerns about sluggish export demand.
Certificated cotton stocks rose to 123,332 480-lb bales, from 120,972 the previous session, according to the latest exchange data. On Wednesday, the exchange cut margin requirements by 14.3 percent to $1,500 per contract from $1,750. The move is effective with the opening of business on Friday.