Business slows down as prices ease on New York cotton market

As a result of sharp fall in the NYE cotton futures, activity slowed down as leading buyers kept to the sideline, expecting sympathetic decline locally, brokers said on Friday. The Karachi Cotton Association (KCA) official spot rate was unchanged at Rs 8,500, they said.
In Singh and Punjab phutti price of low type was at Rs 2500 and that of superior type at Rest 3000, they said. In ready business, around 1600 bales of cotton changed hands between Rs 7,500-8,500, they added. Many analysts were of the view that news about better cotton production in the coming season the world over appeared a cause behind the ginners' haste in cotton selling.
In the meantime, one thing was clear that most of the ginners are not keen to lower the prices of fine quality. The mills and spinners were enjoying the opportunity, so, it is most likely that the exports may show further improvement in the coming days, other experts said. According to report, first time in country's history, exports have crossed 20 billion dollars mark, textile is major export sector, which has 50 percent share in total exports, showed at record 46.56 percent growth over the 10-month of current fiscal year 2010-2011, they said.
On Thursday the US cotton futures settled sharply lower on investor profit-taking as the market seemingly took a breather after its recent advance, with players mulling the next move in cotton before the weekend. The key July cotton contract on ICE Futures US dropped 4.21 cents to close at $1.5565 per lb, dealing from $1.5386 to $1.6132.
New-crop December fell 3.79 cents to finish at $1.1919, moving between $1.1698 and $1.2339. Volume stood around 12,300 lots, about 45 percent below the 30-day norm, Thomson Reuters preliminary data showed. "It was time to take some profits," said Mike Stevens, an independent cotton analyst in Louisiana. Traders said the new-crop December contract finally hit a target around $1.23 or higher during the session and then tumbled shortly afterward.
The following deals were reported: 200 bales of cotton from Pir Mahal sold at Rest 7900, 600 bales from Chichawatni at Rs 7500, 200 bales of cotton from Jalal Pur at Rs 8350, 200 bales from Saqiqabad at Rs 8500, 200 bales from Rahim Yar Khan at Rs 8500 and 200 bales from Ahmed Pur at Rs 8350.