NEW YORK: ICE cotton futures fell on Tuesday, tracking a slide in core grains markets and a firmer dollar, retreating from the highest level in more than four months, which was hit on concerns over weather as tropical storm Elsa took aim at Florida.
Cotton contracts for December fell 0.18 cent, or 0.2%, at 86.79 cents per lb, at 13:51 p.m. EDT (1751 GMT).
Earlier, the December contract climbed by about 2.2% to as much as 88.89 cents, its highest since Feb. 25.
“What kicked the chair out from under cotton was corn opened limit down,” coupled with a drop in soybeans, an uptick in the dollar, and significant technical resistance near February’s highs, said Keith Brown, principal at cotton brokers Keith Brown and Co in Georgia.
In late February, cotton contracts for December rose to a peak of 89.28 cents per pound.
Chicago Board of Trade corn futures sank by the daily, exchange-imposed limit on Tuesday as forecasts for cool, wet weather in US growing areas eased concerns about unfavourable crop conditions.
The dollar strengthened on Tuesday, making cotton expensive for other currency holders, and limiting demand.
Cotton futures jumped earlier on concerns over adverse, wet weather, and it is still raining in West Texas, with Elsa expected to bring more rain to already waterlogged areas in Georgia, Brown added.
After a Wednesday morning landfall along Florida’s Gulf Coast, Tropical Storm Elsa is forecast to move north-northeastward across the southeast United States through Thursday, dropping 2-4 inches of rain across the Florida peninsula.
Market participants also awaited a federal weekly crop progress report later on Tuesday.
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