NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--The sliding dollar pushed ICE Futures U.S. cotton up by
nearly 2.4% Monday as prices ran through preset technical buy stops.
March cotton settled up 180 points at 74.24 cents a pound and the May
contract settled 179 points higher at 75.40.
Cotton found support from early merchant buying against physical sales, as
well as from the weak dollar, analysts said. Traders buy commodities when the
softer dollar makes them less expensive.
The greenback struggled to remain footing against economic outlooks that were
less optimistic following weak December U.S. employment data released Friday.
Improved Chinese economic data also weighed on the greenback amid outlooks the
dollar would continue at low yields compared with other currencies.
Cotton futures have a bullish outlook in the medium term amid tight world
supplies, analysts said.
Early buying from textile mills supported March cotton below 73 cents, a
cotton broker/analyst said. The weak dollar coaxed the contract through preset
technical buy stops at the 73.40 level and again through 74.12 and 74.27, said
the broker/analyst.
March cotton's close above 74.04 will likely put the contract into
consolidation between 74 cents to 76 cents, said Tom Mikulski, senior market
strategist at Lind-Waldock in Chicago.
Traders are looking ahead to the January U.S. crop production and supply and
demand outlooks set to be released at 8:30 a.m. EST Tuesday by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture. Analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires on average
projected the USDA would lower its projection for 2009-10 U.S. cotton
production while slightly raising exports.
ICE daily cotton stocks decreased by 303 500-pound bales Friday to total
420,692 bales with 25,093 bales awaiting review and 2,552 decertification
orders, according to exchange data.
ICE cotton open interest--the number of active positions left at the end of
the session--decreased by 1,482 positions Friday to total 181,992, according to
the exchange.
Volume was estimated lots. In options, approximately 6,964 calls and 1,811
puts traded, according to exchange data.
Close Change Range
Mar 74.24 +180 pts 72.55-74.49
May 75.40 +179 pts 73.90-75.60
Dec 75.32 +118 pts 74.33-75.50