July 2 (Reuters) -Cotton futures fell on Tuesday, hurt by demand concerns and weakness in equities despite some support from higher oil prices.
* Cotton contracts for December CTZ4 fell 0.35 cent, or 0.5%, to 72.75 cents per lb at 11:51 a.m. EDT (1551 GMT).
* Cotton is lower today and "I think it's the lack of demand," said Jack Scoville, vice president at Chicago-based Price Futures Group. "We've had a pretty bad export sales report last week and it's a holiday week so people are pretty much taking the week off."
* The weekly USDA export sales report showed export sales at 141,000 running bales (RB), down 29% from the previous week. EXP/COT
* Weighing on the natural fibre, Wall Street indexes traded lower on Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said more evidence was needed before cutting interest rates. .N
* Meanwhile, oil prices climbed nearly 1% to hit a two-month high on expectations of rising demand during the summer driving season and possible supply disruptions from Hurricane Beryl.
* Higher oil prices make cotton-substitute polyester more expensive.
* "Prices will probably remain under pressure… $0.70 seems to be a pretty good floor," Scoville added.
* In a weekly crop progress report on Monday, the U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA) said 50% of the cotton crop was in good-to-excellent condition compared with 56% a week ago. US/COT
* Cotton speculators decreased their net short position by 4,849 contracts to 46,593 in the week to June 25. CFTC/
* Cotton dipped more than 2% on Friday after the annual acreage report from the USDA showed a 14% increase in total cotton planted area for 2024, reaching an estimated 11.7 million acres. COT/N
Reporting by Rahul Paswan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber