Steadier trend was witnessed on the cotton market on Saturday in the process of trading, dealers said. Official spot rate was unchanged at Rs 6000, they said. In ready business, nearly 13,000 bales of cotton finalised between Rs 5700 and Rs 6200, they said. Prices of cottonseed (phutti) were firm at Rs 2400-2650 and in Punjab rates were inert at Rs 2450-2750, they said.
According to the market sources, needy mills were active ahead of holiday, but others were trying to adopt a mood just to see a fall in the prices, said. On the other hand, the ginners were expecting a stable dollar will definitely help them to increase their profit, as they were facing financial losses due to high cost of production, cotton analyst, Naseem Usman said.
According to the Reuters, the US cotton eked out gains on Friday in very light volume ahead of the Christmas holiday, as mild speculative interest pulled prices up out of negative territory to retest recent highs. The most-active March cotton contract on ICE Futures US settled up 0.35 cent, or 0.5 percent, at 76.18 cents per lb. It hit resistance at 76.28 cents, just 0.01 cent shy of its two-month high hit on Tuesday.
Volumes were low though, with just less than 8,000 lots of March contracts traded on the day. Fibers gained for a fourth straight week, with the 1.5-percent rise fuelled by a fresh wave of speculative interest. The following deals were reported: 400 bales of cotton from Shahdadpur at Rs 5700/5750, 400 bales from Nawabshah at Rs 5900, 600 bales from Upper Sindh at Rs 6000, 800 bales from Upper Sindh (BCI) at Rs 6100, 1000 bales from Dehrki (Credit) at Rs 6200, 200 bales from Khichiwala at Rs 5850, 400 bales from Faqirwali at Rs 5850, 400 bales from Haroonabad at Rs 5850, 400 bales from Jalalpur at Rs 5900, 400 bales from Yazman Mandi at Rs 5925, 400 bales from Layyah at Rs 5950, 800 bales from Khanewal at Rs 5950, 400 bales from Basti Malook at Rs 5950, 400 bales from Tiba Sultanpur at Rs 5975, 400 bales from Fazilpur at Rs 6000, 5200 bales from Mianwali at Rs 6050/6100 and 400 bales from Rajanpur at Rs 6100, they said.
===========================================================================
The KCA Official Spot Rate for Local Dealings in Pak Rupees
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR BASE GRADE 3 STAPLE LENGTH 1-1/32"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
MICRONAIRE VALUE BETWEEN 3.8 TO 4.9 NCL
===========================================================================
Rate Ex-Gin Upcountry Spot Rate Spot Rate Difference
For Price Ex-Karachi Ex. KHI. As Ex-Karachi
on 21.12.2012
===========================================================================
37.324 Kgs 6,000 155 6,155 6,155 NIL
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Equivalent
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
40 Kgs 6,430 155 6,585 6,585 NIL
===========================================================================