Cotton futures fell on Thursday, registering a more than three-week low during the session, on speculator liquidation as index funds continued to roll positions.
The natural fiber market also took stock of weekly export sales data from the US Department of Agriculture, which showed net upland sales totalled 160,400 running bales (RB) of cotton for the week ended October 27, up 24 percent from the previous week. Exports were down 25 percent, however, from the prior 4-week average.
"Over the last few days, open interest has decreased and there's been massive selling against December," said Jim Lambert, director of sales at Capstone Merchant Services.
He said the export sales report was neither "completely negative nor incredibly bullish."
US crop harvest has also progressed well, under ideal conditions and that has also added pressure on prices, according to Lambert.
The December cotton contract on ICE Futures US settled down 0.53 cent, or 0.77 percent, at 68.07 cents per lb. It traded within a range of 67.82, their lowest since October 12, and 69.19 cents a lb.
Total futures market volume rose by 4,676 to 31,730 lots. Data showed total open interest fell 1,716 to 255,546 contracts in the previous session.