Cotton rates managed to halt further decline on the local market on Friday in the process of trading activity, dealers said. The official spot rate lost Rs 100 to Rs 8000, they added. Prices of seed cotton in Sindh were at Rs 3700-3800 and in the Punjab rates were at Rs 3400-3750, they said. In Balochistan, prices of seed cotton were at Rs 3700-4000, they said. In ready session, around 13,000 bales of cotton finalised between Rs 8000-8300, they said.
Market sources said that cotton prices unexpectedly started showing stable trend before Eid holidays.
Fresh rains in the cotton belt helped the rates to stop further decline and it is most likely that prices may not fall sharply in days to come, they added.
Besides, cotton analyst, Naseem Usman said that rates of cotton in the international market recovered marginally, which also a factor behind the firm trend these days.
Mills and spinners were active to cover forward buying of cotton ahead of Eid-ul-Azha holiday, other brokers said. Commenting on the future direction of the market, they also said that rates may move both side in the coming days.
Following deals reported: 200 bales of cotton from Jhole at Rs 8050, 800 bales from Mirpurkhas at Rs 8025-8100, 1200 bales from Hyderabad at Rs 8050-8100, 2000 bales from Sanghar at Rs 8000-8100, 3800 bales from Shahdadpur at Rs 8000-8100, 1200 bales from Kotri at Rs 8100, 3000 bales from Tando Adam at Rs 8100-8150, 400 bales from Nawabshah at Rs 8150, 600 bales from Haroonabad at Rs 8200-8300, 400 bales from Vehari at Rs 8200-8300 and 400 bales from Burewala at Rs 8200-8300, they added.

===========================================================================
The KCA Official Spot Rate for Local Dealings in Pakistan Rupees
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR BASE GRADE 3 STAPLE LENGTH 1-1/16"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    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 16-08-2018
===========================================================================
37.324 kg          8,000      160        8,160         8,260        - 100/-
Equivalent
40 kgs             8,574      171        8,745         8,852        - 107/-
===========================================================================