CHICAGO: ICE cotton futures were little changed on Wednesday, consolidating after hitting a 1-1/2 month high in the previous session, as investors awaited the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) weekly export sales report.

The cotton contract for March was down 0.14 cents, or 0.1%, at 116.25 cents per lb by 11:28 a.m. ET (1628 GMT). It traded within a range of 115.51 and 117.66 cents a lb.

“There is a little bit of profit-taking and repositioning. People are kind of waiting for some new economic developments. Based on yesterday’s levels, I think there’s some overhead resistance going on as well,” said Bailey Thomen, cotton risk management associate at StoneX Group.

Cotton prices rose more than 3% on Tuesday, supported by strong demand outlook and upbeat sentiment across wider financial and commodity markets.

Focus now shifts to USDA’s weekly export sales report due on Thursday. Last week, the report showed net sales of 192,200 running bales, with China being the top buyer.

“The demand for U.S. cotton continues to be very solid. We’re still hearing that there’s a lot of inquiries going on, and of course it’s all been continually made worse by the shipping issues that are still ongoing,” Thomen said.

Meanwhile, the dollar index was down 0.4% against its rivals after a stronger-than-expected report on the labour market and ahead of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s December meeting.

Total futures market volume fell by 17,517 to 13,357 lots. Data showed total open interest gained 2,159 to 243,395 contracts in the previous session.

Certificated cotton stocks deliverable as of Jan.4 totalled 617 480-lb bales, unchanged from the previous session.