Cotton futures finished softer Wednesday on sales by small speculators in quiet dealings devoid of news, analysts said. The New York Board of Trade's December cotton contract shed 0.22 cent to end at 52.29 cents a lb, ranging from 52.20 to 53.19 cents. March eased 0.33 to 54.37 cents. Back months lost 0.13 to 0.56 cent.
"It's (been) very tedious, very slow," said Keith Brown, president of commodity trading firm Keith Brown and Co in Moultrie, Georgia.
Fundamentally, most players were content to monitor progress in the maturing US cotton crop as the 2005/06 marketing year (August/July) got off to a sedate start.
Early fund buying lifted futures to its highs for the day, and then some of the small speculators gradually nudged the market into negative territory, brokers said.
The market was apparently content to hold above 52 cents while waiting for the release of a government report on Thursday, they said.
The US Department of Agriculture's weekly export sales report is due out tomorrow. Cotton brokers expect US cotton sales to range from 150,000 to 250,000 running bales (RBs, 500-lbs each), versus total sales last week of 269,200 RBs.
The brokers said they believe US cotton shipments of previously booked orders should range from 400,000 to 500,000 RBs, against shipments in last week's data of 694,400 RBs.
Total US cotton sales in 2004/05 are close to the 13.3 million (480-lb) bales projected by the USDA.
Brown and other analysts said the more important report would be the USDA's monthly supply/demand report next week when the first detailed projections of supply and demand in the 2005/06 season are handed out.
Brokers Flanagan Trading Corp sees resistance in the December contract at 52.35 and 53.10 cents, with support at 51.85 and 51.05 cents.
Floor dealers said estimated volume came to 6,000 lots, down from Tuesday's tally of 10,446 lots. Open interest rose 389 lots to 94,139 lots as of August 2.
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