Cotton at 4-month high on dollar weakness, WASDE report in focus

ICE cotton futures rose to a near four-month high on Monday, supported by a weaker dollar, while investors awaited for monthly crop supply and demand report from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The front-month cotton contract on ICE Futures US settled up 0.67 cent, or 0.86 percent, at 78.92 cents per lb.

It traded within a range of 77.85 and 79.08 cents per lb, the level last seen on Dec. 17.

"Cheaper US currency is probably helping cotton, but there are notions of tighter US and world aggregate ending stocks on tomorrow's WASDE report," said Louis Rose, director of research and analytics at Tennessee-based Rose Commodity Group.

The dollar index was down 0.4 percent. A weaker greenback makes commodities priced in dollars, such as cotton, less expensive for holders of other currencies.

The USDA's monthly World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report is due on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, US and Chinese negotiators wrapped up their latest round of trade talks last week and were scheduled to resume discussions this week to try to secure a pact that would end a tit-for-tat tariff battle that has roiled global markets.

Total futures market volume fell by 186 to 50,100 lots. Data showed total open interest gained 92 to 231,728 contracts in the previous session.

Certificated cotton stocks deliverable as of April 5 totaled 34,293 480-lb bales, up from 32,089 in the previous session.