Cotton falls as Trump tests positive for COVID-19; eyes weekly decline

ICE cotton futures fell on Friday, on track to post their first weekly decline in three, on market uncertainty after US President Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19.

Cotton contracts for December fell 0.11 cent, or 0.2%, to 65.80 cents per lb, at 1:04 pm EDT (1704 GMT).

The contract was down about 0.2% so far this week.

Trump said on Friday that he and his wife, Melania, had tested positive for COVID-19.

There is uncertainty with the announcement that President Trump has gotten coronavirus, the elections are next month and markets don't like uncertainty, said Barry Bean, a cotton buyer based in Gideon, Missouri.

Global equity markets slumped and oil prices dipped after Trump's positive test news. The dollar firmed and further weighed on the natural fiber.

"There is a long-term concern with respect to the pandemic and whether we're going to see an economic recovery and with the fall coming whether we are going back into another period of deeper recession and a hit on textile demand," Bean said.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which has infected more than 34 million people globally, has upended markets and economic activity, pushing cotton prices down over 6% this year.

"The recent flare up in COVID cases in many parts of the world, persistent layoffs and insolvencies, and the delay of more stimulus are pointing to a rough patch ahead for the global economy," British merchant Plexus Cotton said in a note on Thursday.

Total futures market volume fell by 2,519 to 16,074 lots.

Certificated cotton stocks deliverable as of Oct. 1 totaled 14,722 480-lb bales, up from 14,519 in the previous session.