ICE cotton dips in light volume as physical demand remains quiet

Cotton futures fell in light volume on Tuesday, with many traders closing shop ahead of the holidays, as open interest continued to decline after a speculator-driven rally earlier in the month was not matched by physical activity. "The business is down under 60 cents - that's where we can sell cotton," said Jobe Moss, a broker with MCM Inc in Lubbock, Texas.
March cotton on ICE Futures US settled down 0.16 cent, or 0.25 percent, at 63.16 cents per lb. It traded within a range of 63.06 and 63.70 cents a lb. Just 6,558 contracts traded hands in the March contract, the lowest level since late October. Certificated cotton stocks deliverable as of December 21 totalled 64,723 480-lb bales, down from 65,238 in the previous session. The dollar index was down 0.12 percent. The Thomson Reuters CoreCommodity CRB Index, which tracks 19 commodities, was down 0.27 percent. The Relative Strength Index in the most-active contract fell to 52.969.