ICE cotton futures retreated to touch a 10-week low on Thursday, as speculators liquidated and index funds rolled positions. The May cotton contract on ICE Futures US settled down 0.48 percent at 74.51 cents per lb. The contract touched a session low at 74.48 cents, slightly farther from the near 10-week low of 74.55 cents on Tuesday.
"The market's in a slight liquidation mode," said Louis Barbera, a broker at ICAP Cotton. "We do have part of the index funds starting to roll, which puts additional pressure on May (contract). "The market's starting to key up to 74.40 area, which would be the 100-day moving average, in which time if it breaks that it would trigger another round of spec liquidation."
Weekly export sales data from the US government showed net upland sales totalled 270,000 running bales for the previous week, down 31 percent from the week before. The May cotton contract on ICE Futures US settled down 0.36 cent, or 0.48 percent, at 74.51 cents per lb. It traded within a range of 74.48 and 75.07 cents a lb. Total futures market volume rose by 2,210 to 35,262 lots. Data showed total open interest fell 6,385 to 271,090 contracts in the previous session. The dollar index was up 0.16 percent.