By Keith Brown, DTN Contributing Cotton Analyst 

The cotton market finished its Friday session respectfully higher, although at one time earlier in the day, it was triple-digits higher.

The strength was derived from Thursday’s positive export sales, as well as a resilient Dow Jones. Of course, the news of the day was the historic job loss of last month. Friday morning the Labor Department reported some 20.5 people lost their livelihoods in April. It was the single largest monthly reduction in American history, which is a massive setback in domestic apparel demand.

Next week, the market will see planting progress on Monday, then on Tuesday, USDA will issue its supply and demand numbers for May, then lastly, the weekly export sales will be out on Thursday. Additionally, the market will be watching for any adverse developments in U.S./China relations.

July cotton finished 0.44 cent higher on the week, but down 1.25 cents on this young month. For Friday, July cotton settled at 56.27 cents, up 0.88 cent, December closed at 57.62 cents, up 0.67 cent and March finished at 58.44 cents, up 0.57 cent. Estimated volume was 26,200 contracts.