Leading buyers were conspicuous by their absence on the cotton market on Saturday in the process of lean business, dealers said. The official spot rate was unchanged at Rs 6250, dealers said. In Sindh, seed cotton prices were at Rs 2600 and Rs 3250, they said, in Punjab, phutti rates were at Rs 2800 and Rs 3500, as per 40 kg, they added.
In the ready session, around 3,000 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs 5900 and Rs 6500, they said. Some brokers said that both mills and spinners kept on the sidelines owing to less buying interest in local stuff. Most of the buyers keen to purchase fine quality, probably they consider to import cotton from other sources to achieve their desired purpose, they observed. Cotton analyst, Naseem Usman said that prices are stable and yarn market showed slight improvement, so buyers preferred to be on the sideline, instead of fresh buying.
Adds Reuters: ICE cotton futures eased in thin volume trading on Friday and recorded the worst week since early November, ahead of the Christmas and New Year holiday week.
The March cotton contract on ICE Futures US fell about 1.6 percent for the week, the biggest decline since the week ended November 4. March cotton contract on ICE Futures US settled down 0.33 cent, or 0.47 percent, at 69.87 cents per lb. It traded within a range of 69.85 and 70.54 cents a lb.
The following deals reported: 400 bales of cotton from Mian Chano at Rs 5900, 800 bales from Multan at Rs 6350-6500, same figure from Haroonabad at Rs 6350, 400 bales from Multan at Rs 6500 and equal figure from Dharanwala at Rs 6300, dealers said.

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The KCA Official Spot Rate for Local Dealings in Pakistan Rupees
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FOR BASE GRADE 3 STAPLE LENGTH 1-1/32"
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                                    MICRONAIRE VALUE BETWEEN 3.8 TO 4.9 NCL
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Rate              Ex-Gin   Upcountry   Spot Rate    Spot Rate    Difference
                    For      Price     Ex-Karachi  Ex. KHI. As   Ex-Karachi
                                                  on 23-12-2016
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37.324 kg         6,250       135        6,385        6,385             NIL
Equivalent
40 kgs            6,698       145        6,843        6,843             NIL
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