Cotton futures eke out gain after setting one-week low

Cotton futures recovered earlier losses and closed higher on Tuesday as bargain hunting at the day's lows offset pressure from a broader commodities sell-off. The second-month March cotton contract on ICE Futures US 0.2 cent, or 0.3 percent, at 59.38 cents a lb, after dipping to a one-week low of 58.97 cents. Buying came in after early-session selling that went near last week's five-year low of 58.83 cents and buy-stops exaggerated the day's gains, traders said.
Chinese cotton futures were also higher. Fiber outperformed most other commodities markets. It was one of the best performers of the Reuters Core/Commodity CRB, as crude oil prices resumed their rout and kept many other commodities in a tailspin. "There's new buying and also (mill) fixations," said Sharon Johnson, a cotton specialist with KCG Futures in Roswell, Georgia. "Mills have deferred buying as long as they can, waiting for lower prices, but now some of them need to get in." The spot December contract continued to trade at a premium to the most-active March contract. It closed up 0.57 cent, or 0.9 percent, at 60.75 cents a lb in thin volume.