Cotton futures rose for the first time in four sessions on Thursday after a large removal of cotton stocks from exchange-certified warehouses signalled physical demand at current low price levels, as commodities prices rose more broadly. "When crude was at its strongest, that's when cotton was strengthening to get through yesterday's high," said Ron Lee, general manager at McCleskey Cotton in Bronwood, Georgia, noting the strong correlation between the general commodities complex and cotton prices.
March cotton on ICE Futures US settled up 0.5 cent, or 0.82 percent, at 61.36 cents per lb. It traded within a range of 60.67 and 61.52 cents a lb. Certificated cotton stocks fell by more than 25,000 480-lb bales the previous session, the largest single-day drop since July 2014. That showed merchants are able to find buyers on the physical market at current prices near four-month lows, traders said. Certificated stocks totalled 32,037 bales after the drawdown, the lowest level since April.
Total futures market volume rose by 3,927 to 30,078 lots. Data showed total open interest gained 1,298 to 194,579 contracts in the previous session. The dollar index was down 0.41 percent. The Thomson Reuters CoreCommodity CRB Index, which tracks 19 commodities, was up 0.67 percent. The Relative Strength Index in the most-active contract rose to 42.638.