U.S. cotton planting progressed to 21% completed, compared with 25% last year and the five-year average. Storms expected to bring rain on the Texas Plains. Cash online sales rose to 327 bales on The Seam.
Cotton futures ticked slightly higher in quiet dealings Tuesday after slipping to a 16-session low in the first 10 minutes of overnight trading.
July ticked up 20 points to 77.39 cents, trading within a narrow 45-point range from 77.07 to 77.52 cents on a contract volume of 1,625 lots. December eked up seven points to 73.44 cents, trading within a 37-point range from 73.30 to 73.67 cents on a turnover of 817 lots.
In outside markets, U.S. dollar index futures traded up 0.505 to 99.440, while Dow Jones futures edged up 27 points and S&P futures up two points. Crude oil dropped 25 cents to $46.18, Brent crude slipped 26 cents to $48.08 and June gold fell $5.70 to $1,221.40. July corn was up 0.4%, July soybeans up 0.1% and July Chicago wheat and July Kansas City wheat little changed.
Earlier, Asian stocks were mostly higher, down 0.26% in Japan’s Nikkei 225, up 1.27% in Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, up 2.9% in South Korea’s Kospi and up 0.06% in China’s Shanghai Composite Index. European shares traded higher, up 0.76% in Britain’s FTSE 100, 0.68% in Germany’s DAX and 0.31% in France’s CAC 40.
China’s Zhengzhou cotton futures continued to lose ground and prices settled with gains on the China National Cotton Exchange.
On the U.S. crop scene, planting progressed seven percentage points to 21% completed during the week ended Sunday, four points behind last year and the five-year average, USDA reported after the close Monday.
Cotton was 16% planted in Texas, compared with 13% a week earlier, 17% last year and 19% on average, and 22% in Georgia, against 12%, 22% and 20%, respectively.
Planting neared completion in southern districts of Texas. Three percent of the Texas cotton was squaring, down from 4% last year but up from 2% for the five-year average.
Progress also lagged the five-year average in nine other states — Arizona, Arkansas, California, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Planting was ahead of the average in four other states — Alabama, Louisiana, Oklahoma and South Carolina.
On the weather front, severe thunderstorms are expected to develop in the western Texas High Plains Tuesday afternoon and increase in coverage as the activity spreads eastward bringing rainfall expected to range from a tenth of an inch to 1.5 inches or more before moving into the Rolling Plains on Wednesday. Rain chances in the Lubbock area are rated at 30% Tuesday, 60% Tuesday night and 20% Wednesday.
In cotton futures Monday, July had established the daily range by early morning and didn’t trade above unchanged all day, settling at its lowest close since April 13 and turning a weekly technical indicator down.
May expired at 41-point discount to July from a 199-point premium on Friday. The inverted July-December straddle traded from 352 to 391 points and widened 21 points to close at a 386-point July premium on a volume of 3,400 lots. December-March traded between an inverted 17 and 32 points and narrowed seven points to settle at a 23-point December premium on 855 lots.
An additional 31 tenders were issued for Tuesday on the matured May contract, bringing the period total to 735. Term Commodities, previously an issuer, stopped 29 of Tuesday’s notices.
In cash online trading, sales rose to 327 bales from 57 bales on The Seam. Prices averaged 67.60 cents, down from 73.24 cents, reflecting average premiums over loan values of 24.92 cents, up from 20.35 cents. Grower-to-business sales were 149 bales on prices averaging 65.87 cents and business-to-business sales were 179 bales on prices averaging 67.61 cents. Offerings were 14,370 bales.
The Cotlook A Index of world values fell 110 points to 87.70 cents, widening the premium over the prior-session July futures settlement four points to 9.93 cents.
