May cotton broke from Tuesday’s lower start and 1-cent range late in the session to end up 0.10 on the day, joining a long list of ag commodities which were able to close higher in the face of a U.S. dollar index, which was trading up 0.47.

May cotton overcame a lower start on Tuesday and ended up 0.10 at a new one-month high of 82.25, possibly aided by flooding concerns in the Delta and a seven-day forecast which expects more rain, including especially heavy amounts from southern Arkansas to Tennessee. Futures spreads indicated light commercial buying also helped bring about the higher close.

Maturing March closed up 0.06 to 81.76 cents after the ICE reported one delivery notice late Monday, bringing the total to 577. July cotton settled up 0.04 at 82.79 cents and December finished up 0.18 at another new contract high of 77.05 cents.

The ICE daily stocks report showed certified stocks increased 2,184, from 101,222 to 103,406 on Monday.

Technically speaking, May cotton remains in an uptrend with support from noncommercial buying that increased after last fall’s hurricanes. Fundamentally, cotton prices should gain some support in 2018 from USDA’s projection that world cotton ending stocks will come down 5.9 million bales in 2018-19 to 82.7 million bales.