Keith Brown DTN Contributing Cotton Analyst    

The cotton market ended materially higher Thursday amid strong technical buying around support lines. In addition, it appears that the rain forecasted for West Texas missed their mark, causing many areas to remain dry.    

Spot July cotton was the beneficiary of more mill hedge-type buying. The market will enter delivery on June 24, but prior to that, it will see its options will expire on Friday, June 10. July's current open interest stands at 75,500 contracts.      

Weather-wise, some showers are expected tonight, Friday night and Saturday across West Texas. However, the rain totals should range between 0.20 to 0.80 inch. Still, rain prospects improve starting the middle of next week, Wednesday through Friday.    

Friday, USDA will issue its delayed export-sales report. With the port of Shanghai supposedly reopened for business, it will be interesting to see if any "anticipatory buying" was done by the Chinese.    

The U.S. dollar was lower Thursday as some Fed officials are slanting toward halting additional rate hikes beyond July. This news reflects a more dovish attitude among some board governors.    

For Thursday, July cotton settled at 139.11 cents, up 3.05 cents, December closed at 120.10 cents, up 1.67 cents, and March 2023 finished at 115.77 cents, 1.47 cents higher; estimated volume was 36,672 contracts.    

Keith Brown can be reached at commodityconsults@gmail.com 

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