Cotton futures were another 43 to 142 points higher on Friday pushing the rally into the weekend. Dec futures gained a net 369 points for the week, but had stayed within last week’s range.
CFTC’s weekly Commitment of Traders data had the spec traders dropping 5k longs and 1.6k new shorts. That reduced the group’s net long to 27.2k contracts as of 8/22. The commercial traders had lifted hedges during the week, taking their net short down 7.7k contracts to 81.1k.
USDA’s weekly Cotton Market review had 7,270 bales sold at spot, bringing the season’s pace up to 16.7k bales compared to 6.7k LY. The average price for the week was listed at 80.06 cents/lb. The Cotlook A Index for 8/24 was up by another 145 points to 95.85 cents/lb. The FSA lowered the AWP for cotton by 208 points to 69.06 cents/lb. ICE certified stocks were 347 bales on 8/21.
Dec 23 Cotton closed at 87.31, up 122 points,
Mar 24 Cotton closed at 87.19, up 115 points,
May 24 Cotton closed at 87, up 99 points
Source: barchart.com