The cotton market has traded both sides of Thursday’s close, but volume is light and traders are reluctant to do big positions on a Friday.
There were no delivery notices Friday regarding the March contract. It expires next Wednesday, March 9. Also on that day, USDA will issue its supply-demand update. Traders hope to see improvements in U.S. and world carryouts.
Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. EST, CFTC will publish its commitment-of-traders information. At last count, the managed-money funds were net sellers, reducing their long-held bullish position.
The Labor Department released a stunning jobs growth number Friday morning for February. Nonfarm payrolls for the month grew by 678,000 and the unemployment rate was 3.8%. Expectations called for 440,000 for payrolls and 3.9% for the jobless rate. Friday’s data will only encourage the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates.
Friday, close-in support for May cotton is 118.20 cents and 116.70 cents, while resistance stands at 122.90 cents and 121.50 cents. The estimated morning volume is 4,421 contracts.
