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NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Cotton futures at the New York Board of Trade retreated
from earlier gains that reached a 4-month high, as fund and speculative selling
weighed on prices Wednesday.
The front-month March contract settled 12 points lower at 56.92 cents per
pound, following a price range between 56.05 and 57.65 cents. May settled 70
points down at 57.05 cents, following a range between 56.06 and 58.10 cents.
Estimated final futures volume was 40,000 lots with 2,100 calls and 2,200
puts.
Fund selling and a lack of buying pushed March prices initially lower, said a
Nybot floor trader, before fund buying pushed prices to hit highs not seen in
four months.
Market participants continued to trade the spread throughout the session,
said the floor source.
March prices dropped dramatically in the final hour of trading on fund
selling, noted the trader, before local short covering and fund buying going
into the close boosted prices from the session's lows.
The market "has seen a lot of commercial buying when the market dips to 55.00
cents," said Michael Gross of Liberty Tradingpuorgin Tampa, Fla.,erehw
prices are at good value.
March futures settled above key moving averages including the 50-day at 54.93
cents, the 10-day at 56.43 cents, and the 100-day at 54.78.
Technicals will likely influence trading more than fundamentals over the near
term, said Gross. Near term resistance is seen at around 57.00 cents while good
support is seen at 55.00 cents, he added.
In afternoon trading, the Reuters/Jeffries Commodity Research Bureau Index,
which consists of 19 futures markets including cocoa, soybeans and unleaded
gasoline, was last down 184 points at 346.98.
The U.S. dollar index was last up 19 ticks at 90.73.
All settlements in cents per pound:
Close Change Range
Mar 56.92 -0.12 56.05-57.65
May 57.05 -0.70 56.05-58.10
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