ICE cotton futures snapped a three-session losing streak on Wednesday as index funds rolled over long positions from the front month, offsetting a firmer dollar. The Goldman roll, one of the biggest index rollovers, put pressure on front month July cotton contract and supported the December cotton contract, traders said. The most-active December cotton contract on ICE futures US settled up 0.16 cent, or 0.22 percent, at 72.68 cents per lb. It traded within a range of 72.4 and 72.81 cents a lb.
The July cotton contract on ICE Futures US settled down 0.3 percent at 75.79 cents. "Once December and March (contracts) have to stand on their own two legs, things could get dicey if weather remains beneficial," said Ron Lee, general manager at McCleskey Cotton in Bronwood, Georgia, in a note. The December contract has been pressured by expectations of increased crop production due to favourable weather conditions in top growing regions.
"December is starting to feel the pressure having larger crop planted around the world ... We have got increasing acreage in India, a little bit in China and the United States," said Keith Brown, principal at cotton broker Keith Brown and Co in Moultrie, Georgia. The dollar index was up 0.11 percent. The Thomson Reuters CoreCommodity CRB Index, which tracks 19 commodities, was down 1.38 percent. Total futures market volume fell by 7,027 to 24,636 lots. Data showed total open interest fell 3,138 to 234,798 contracts in the previous session. Certificated cotton stocks deliverable as of June 5 totalled 445,351 480-lb bales, up from 440,044 in the previous session.