This is last session before first notice day. Trend-following funds boosted their net cotton longs to new record high 114,179 lots. Cash online sales declined to 2,141 bales on The Seam.
Cotton futures ticked slightly higher Tuesday as trading resumed following a three-day weekend, with most-active May confined within a tiny span inside the previous-session range as trading resumed following a three-day weekend.
May hovered up 23 points to 75.75 cents, still within the 37-point overnight range from 75.55 to 75.92 cents on a contract volume of 3,731 lots. It has closed lower four days in a row.
March also gained 23 points to 73.71 cents a turnover of 1,753 lots on this last session before first notice day. July ticked up 43 points to 76.90 cents on 822 lots. December rose 24 points to 74 cents on 387 lots.
In outside markets, U.S. stock index futures rose to record intraday highs and U.S. dollar index futures a four-session high. Dow Jones futures traded up 63 points and S&P futures up 4.75 points, while greenback futures rose 0.560 to 101.510.
March crude oil jumped $1.12 to $54.52, April Brent crude added 83 cents to $57.01 and April gold fell $10.20 to $1,228.90. March corn was up 0.4%, March soybeans up 0.3%, March Chicago wheat down 0.5% and March Kansas City wheat also down 0.5%.
Earlier, Asian stock markets were mostly higher, up 0.68% in Japan’s Nikkei, 0.41% in China’s Shanghai Composite and 0.89% in South Korea’s Kospi but down 0.76% in Hong Hong’s Hang Seng. In Europe, Germany’s DAX gained 0.50 and France’s CAC 40 0.35%. Britain’s FTSE 100 dipped 0.24%.
China’s Zhengzhou cotton futures and prices on the China National Cotton Exchange settled higher. India’s MCX cotton futures were firm.
Meanwhile, trend-following funds boosted their net longs 3,612 lots to a new record high 114,179 lots in cotton futures-options combined during the week ended last Tuesday, according to the traders-commitments data reported by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission after the close Friday.
That topped the prior record high of 110,898 set Jan. 10. Prices for the reporting week gained 123 points in March and 181 points in May, then lost 284 and 254 points, respectively, the next three sessions.
Index funds hiked their net longs 721 lots to 72,156 lots, while non-reportable traders reduced theirs 1,384 lots to 9,580. Commercials sold a net 2,947 lots, liquidating 8,408 longs and covering 5,461 shorts to raise their net shorts 2,946 lots to 195,914. Combined open interest declined 23,921 lots to 347,494.
In cotton futures Friday, May closed down 125 points for the day and 157 points for the week, finishing a bearish weekly reversal below lows of the previous three weeks.
The March-May switch traded from 172 to 205 points carry and widened 28 points to close at a new high May premium of 204 points on a volume of 10,881 lots. May-July traded from 77 to 100 points carry and widened 12 points to settle at 95 points on 4,103 lots.
The inverted July-December intercrop straddle traded from 335 to 264 points and narrowed 56 points to a 271-point July settlement premium on 2,895 lots.
In cash online trading, sales on the grower-to-business and business-to-business exchanges declined to 2,141 bales from 12,346 bales on The Seam. Prices fell to a gross average of 67.29 cents from 72.22 cents, reflecting a gain to 19.35 cents from 18.94 cents in gross premiums over loan values.
The Cotlook A Index of world prices fell 120 points Monday to 84.20 cents, reflecting a premium of 8.68 cents over Friday’s May futures close.
