By Keith Brown, DTN Contributing Cotton Analyst 

The cotton market suffered a steep, triple-digit setback Wednesday as a combination of election and COVID-19 jitters sent most markets sharply lower. When the Dow Jones cratered over 900 points lower earlier, that set the bearish tone for the day. Soon, gold, crude and corn, and a host of other markets were tanking. Of course, many investors fear a resurgence of COVID-19 could compromise the current economic recovery. Also, traders fear a Biden win will ultimately result in higher taxes and increased spending on social programs. Their anxiety has them in the process of squaring up their holdings. As a reminder, Friday marks the end of the month, suggesting some of this balancing selling might intensify.

Thursday USDA will issue its weekly export sales. The report has become a barometer of how well or how poorly Asia is recovering from the virus. Last week saw sales at 225,000 bales.

The U.S. dollar was markedly higher Wednesday, operating as a safe haven for spooked traders. Yet, the greenback is trading at levels equal to that of last July 31, so it has not been reflective of any sort of consistent trend. Also, the failure by Congress to pass more stimulus had bulwarked the dollar as well.

For Wednesday, December cotton closed at 70.17 cents, down 1.86 cents, March settled at 71.03 cents, down 1.70 cents and December 2021 finished at 69.22 cents, down 1.40 cents. Estimated volume was 47,491 contracts.