Cotton ends losing streak as US-Mexico avert tariff fight

Cotton prices settled higher on Monday as the United States and Mexico, a major importer of US supplies, averted a trade dispute, while investors remained cautious ahead of a crucial monthly crop supply and demand report.

* Cotton contracts for July settled up 0.4 cent, or 0.61%, at 65.99 cents per lb. It traded within a range of 64.85 and 66.5 cents a lb.

* The front month contract

snapped four straight sessions of losses, after shedding almost 3.7% last week.

* The United States on Friday dropped its threat to impose tariffs on Mexico in a deal to combat illegal migration from Central America.

* "An agreement with Mexico could put pressure on China to start negotiating," said Sid Love, commodity trading adviser at Kansas-based Sid Love Consulting, referring to the ongoing trade dispute between the United States and China.

* Investors are cautious ahead of the release of the USDA's monthly World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report, due on Tuesday, Love added.

* The long-drawn trade spat between Beijing and Washington has toppled markets since its conception a year ago and raised concerns of a slowdown in economy.

* China's imports dropped the most in nearly three years, data showed on Monday, in a further sign of weak domestic demand. The United States is one of the world's biggest exporters of cotton, while China is the largest consumer.

* "Cotton has been fundamentally weak because of the fear of a big US crop and a slowdown in the economy," said John Bondurant, a trader in Memphis, Tennessee, adding that a stronger dollar and lack of cues from the grains markets has not helped the natural fiber.

* Total futures market volume rose by 6,361 to 63,976 lots. Data showed total open interest gained 1,189 to 210,156 contracts in the previous session.

* Certificated cotton stocks <CERT-COT-STX> deliverable as of June 7 totaled 85,903 480-lb bales, unchanged from 85,903 in the previous session.