By Keith Brown, DTN Cotton Correspondent 

The cotton market finished higher Tuesday once traders saw the rains in West Texas were widely sporadic. There were several overnight intense storms, resulting in very high winds and a tornado or two, but essentially, they faded as quickly as they formed. Although the 10-day forecast for West Texas still shows rain in the outlook, after Wednesday’s 60% chance, percentages really taper off into this weekend.

Traders are awaiting Thursday’s export-sales data. For the past two weeks, sales have really slumped, putting some pressure on the July market. To that end, the July options expire in 23 days.

Tuesday’s housing starts report fell more than expected in April, likely pulled down by soaring prices for lumber and other materials. Housing starts tumbled 9.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.569 million units last month. The Commerce Department said data for March was revised lower to a rate of 1.733 million units, still the highest level since June 2006, from the previously reported 1.739 million units.

Tuesday, July cotton closed at 88.01 cents, up 1.69 cents, December settled at 83.30 cents, up 1.59 cents and March 2022 ended at 83.00 cents, 1.65 cents higher; estimated volume was 27,168 contracts.