Cotton Trades Modestly Ahead
Net U.S. all-cotton weekly export sales for shipment this season slowed to 152,700 running bales and shipments dropped to 295,800 bales. Cash trading slowed on The Seam.By Duane Howell DTN Cotton Correspondent
Cotton futures traded with modest gains Thursday after USDA reported slower U.S. weekly export sales and shipments.
Most-active May hovered up 47 points to 85.84 cents at 8:16 a.m. CDT, trading within a 90-point range from 85.37 to 86.27 cents on a contract volume of 2,382 lots. May options expiry is Friday.
July traded up 48 points to 87.96 cents on a turnover of 2,083 lots and December gained 44 points to 87.01 cents on a volume of 154 lots.
Net U.S. all-cotton export sales for delivery this season slipped to 152,700 running bales during the week ended April 4 from 168,100 bales the previous week.
Upland net sales of 147,100 bales were down 1% from the previous week and the prior four-week average. Gross upland sales were 170,900 bales and cancellations were 23,800 bales. China was the top upland buyer, purchasing 99,200 bales or 67%.
All-cotton shipments fell to 295,800 running bales from the previous week’s 384,100 bales. Upland shipments of 271,800 dropped 25% from the previous week and 18% from the prior four-week average.
New-crop sales for delivery in 2013-14 fell to 17,300 bales of all cotton from 64,200 bales the previous week. This brought sales for both crop years to 170,000 bales, down from 232,300 bales the week before.
In outside markets, U.S. stock index futures traded about flat, up 4 points in Dow Jones futures and down 0.25 in S&P futures, while dollar index futures fell 0.274 to 82.360, crude oil dropped 31 cents to $94.33, Brent crude dipped 25 cents to $105.54 and June gold gained $1.20 to $1,560. Grains and soybeans were mixed.
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